Naruto: The Tale of His Life
by Apex Soldier
Summary: What if Naruto was not as brave, dumb, loud or cheery as he is in the manga/anime? My view of what he'd really be like... Response to Aengus challenge... Pairings: NarutoxHinata... though later on in the story... other pairings pending...
1. How it began

**Yo! This is my response to Aengus' challenge. Here's what was need to do for challenge:**

**_"CHALLENGE_**

**_According to Erik Erickson, German-American psychologist noted for his theories on the development of children, because of Naruto's childhood as the outcast child that no one wanted or had time for, Naruto has severe attachment issues and problems socializing with others his age, not to mention a terrible fear of adults. Instead of him being the loud idiot that is portrayed in the manga and anime, Naruto should be very quiet, shy, extreme nervousness, with excessive smiling and nodding. In essence Naruto does not trust anyone, a severe inferiority complex, all the while being one of the most competent and caring ninja in the village. Sasuke cannot be his friend in any way, shape, or form; he is the main antagonist to Naruto's growth and relationships with others, sometimes even going out of his way to try and ruin them. During the main story, a kunoichi begins to have feelings for him and must convince him of that fact._**

**_Conditions: No yaoi, no good Sasuke, no Harem (he's going to have enough problems with one girl), no 'over-night' change for Naruto, no Naruto/older women (ex. Anko, Kurenai, or Tsunade), while I would prefer a Naruto/Temari, I won't insist."_**

**So that's where we are at this point. I like a good challenge. So yeah, hope you enjoy it…**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything that has to do with Naruto besides this plot and some OC's I might create while writing this.**

**WARNING: No, there is no lemon, that's not what this warnings about. It's about this story though. It WILL be a NaruHina story. No exceptions, no crap. I prefer this pairing more than any other. No way in hell will that change! If you don't like the pairing or the story, why the hell are you here in this story? I may take request for other pairings but not Shika/Tema. There will be no shika/tema and this story will remain a NaruHina story. Other than that, I'm ok with any other pairing requests.  
Also, if you're one of those people who just flame because you think its fun to do, you're wrong. All you're doing is being a jerk ass and apparently have no life. Here, we write because we want to express ourselves or just because we get a kick out of writing. People review to give either constructive criticism or to tell the author that the story was great or something similar to that. Flames are pointless and a waste of time, if you do it, you're a jerk ass who needs a new hobby.  
Those people who are reading this that read because you like reading stories and don't flame, I thank you because I know the world's not filled with jerk asses. And that this warning is not for you.**

**Again, if this this doesn't sound good to you, don't bother telling me it sucked and insult me. I already know I'm not the best author nor am I trying to be. I'm just doing this because I just get a kick out of writing.**

**Sorry if I sounded angry but I need to get that out my chest… Please enjoy my story =]…**

* * *

A five-year-old little boy lay on his hospital bed as he healed from yesterday's wounds. He had blond, spiky hair, blue eyes and whisker birthmarks on his face. His eyes showed no emotions as he thought back on yesterday's event. While he did, he wondered why exactly his village's citizens would beat him. For you see, yesterday was his birthday, October 10th, the same day the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, the day that the Fourth Hokage killed the Kyuubi, and unfortunately, the same day that Konoha lost the great Hokage.

'_How I wish someday I'll be as great and as respected as the Fourth Hokage was. But I know I'll never be; I know I can never be as great as him… I make too many mistakes. Why else would I get beat up everyday? It's because I make mistakes, there's no other reason. I just wish they wouldn't hit me as hard around this time of year.'_

Though he is abused daily, yesterday was different.

Yesterday, the attackers were groggy, unbalanced and slurred when they spoke, a bunch of drunks who happened to see Naruto passing by.

_**[Flashback…]**_

**_Naruto was walking home after having spent another birthday alone_.**

_'__**Why am I so alone? Why must the gods toy with my life' He thought as he continued his walk home. **_

_**He would've bought himself a birthday gift but everything he wanted was out of his price range. He knew the people in the stores over charged him but there was nothing he could do so he ignored it. Soon, he passed a bar that was full of grieving men and women and heard them crying and screaming dead people's names. Naruto felt bad for those people but again, there was nothing he could do, so he passed on by.**_

_**A block later, he heard people behind him screaming and sounded angry. He soon panicked as he heard them shout; "MONSTER", "DEMON SPAWN" and "JUST DIE ALREADY!" **_

_**He prayed that they weren't talking to him, but apparently, the gods were bored and decided to have a little fun with his life. He turned around and saw the same people from the bar he passed had followed him, hatred in their eyes and half empty bottles in their hands.**_

_**Naruto was now completely in front of his mob. "C-Can I help you all?" **_

_**This caused the men in the mob to sneer, but the guy who responded was the worst of them all.**_

"_**Yeah, there is something you can help us with. You can die and go to hell!" The man cried as he threw his bottle right at Naruto's face.**_

_**Naruto instinctively duck under the bottle, immediately knowing it was a mistake. His eyes widened when he saw the man's face changed from mild anger into rage. The mob then picked up rocks and hurled them at Naruto. **_

_**This time, Naruto didn't try to dodge it, and let it hit him, doubled over in pain, and fell to the ground. He tried to ignore the pain in his stomach as he tried to stand up again. Only to angering the mob even more.**_

"_**Stay down you evil demon!" a lady in the back shrieked. **_

_**This shocked Naruto to no end. **_

_**Why was she calling him a demon? **_

_**Before he could continue his thoughts, another object struck him, this time a bottle hit him in the forehead. Naruto fell back on his back and raised his hands to his forehead. Then other people continued throwing things at him.**_

_**Purses, coins, empty bottles, full bottles, bricks, and rocks… anything that wasn't nailed down. **_

_**Naruto was still cowering on the ground when he looked up. He then saw a girl around his age looking at him, or he thought she was, he wasn't so sure. What also surprised him the most was the fact he saw tears falling down her face. **_

'_**Is… Is she crying because of me or… or for me?' He wanted to see for himself but he couldn't get up and see since he was still getting a beating.**_

_**Halfway through the beating, the pain caused him to black out.**_

_**The girl who was in fact watching burst into tears as she saw his arms go limp and his eyes close. Then she felt some one behind her and looked up and saw her father, looking absolutely angry.**_

_**At this point, some of the mob had begun to loose interest in abusing the "demon child."**_

_**One even said, "It's no fun when he's not awake to feel it." Though most of the mob agreed, they kept on beating Naruto like savages. The little girl and her father were disgusted by the man's words and these people's actions. She didn't know how much more she could take of this, though she didn't have to wait to long to see it come to an end. Soon enough, she saw her father marching up to the mob. Not wanting to be left out, she decided to follow him. She stopped right behind her father as he stopped in front of the mob and stared at them angrily. When she saw that he had the entire mob's attention, she heard him start speaking.**_

"_**What are you people doing!?!" He roared, halting the violence.**_

"_**We're beating the demon to death." Sneered the first man as though he was describing a trip to the market.**_

_**Again the little girl found the man's words sickening. **_

'_**So this is the boy who had Kyuubi sealed in him. Poor boy, I'd guess he has to deal with this kind thing everyday.' **_

'_**Demon? Are they insane? He looks like an ordinary boy to me.' The little girl thought, rapidly becoming angry herself.**_

"_**What demon? All I see is a disgusting bunch of low-life drunks beating on a poor, helpless child." He was beyond angry at this point and could not take another minute of the drunks in front of him. "Leave. Now. Before I get really angry."**_

_**The guy who first threw the bottle at Naruto smirked arrogantly as he stepped up and challenged the other man's authority.**_

"_**And what would happen if we don't?" **_

_**The other man closed his eyes and let out a loud exhale through his nose while the drunk only laughed. **_

"_**Ha! Like I thought, no…" **_

_**The man wasn't given the chance to finish as he flew ten feet into the air and landed about five yards away; landing in a heap, he groaned before succumbing to unconsciousness. The other drunken men and women of the mob could only watch in surprise as they saw that the man across from them had only his open palm where he had obviously struck their 'leader' from where he hit the drunk, now unconscious man behind them. **_

_**They all cowered and ran in fear of the man in front of them. **_

_**When the little girl was sure the mob was gone, she ran to the unconscious little boy and laid his head on her lap. Her tears had dried off a while ago but as she stared into the unconscious face of the unknown boy, fresh new tears escaped their imprisonment. Her father put a comforting hand on his daughter's shoulder and gave her a comforting smile.**_

"_**He'll be ok Hinata. If he is who I think he is, he'll be ok." This helped Hinata out, but only a little. From all she had witnessed, she finally found her voice.**_

"_**I-It's strange…" she whispered.**_

_**Hiashi looked at his daughter with confusing clearly visible on his face.**_

"_**What is Hinata?" Hinata didn't answer right away, though Hiashi was in no hurry to get her to answer. **_

_**Considering the events that the two of them had just seen, he was surprised she had spoken at all. Finally, Hinata started speaking again.**_

"_**I… I've never met this boy, n-never seen him before today but I can't help but cry for him, feel completely destroyed from...Earlier. It's like they were hurting me while they hurt him."**_

_**Hiashi at first thought she was being a bit irrational, but he smiled as he remembered something very near and dear to his own heart, a very similar situation that he had once been in; and saw that she was looking up at him with a confused look on her face. **_

"_**What's so funny father?"**_

"_**It's nothing. Really. It's just what you just said. That's exactly how I felt when I first met your mother." **_

_**Hinata blushed and looked back down at Naruto. **_

"_**Hinata, do you like this boy?" Her blush deepened and she had lost her voice again, but soon found it again.**_

"_**Father! I don't even know this boy. I'm just concerned for his well-being." She said with her blush still on her face. **_

'_***.*.*.*'**_

_**Naruto could feel something wet fall on his face for a couple of minutes. He thought it was rain but didn't remember seeing a cloud in the sky. Then he heard two voices. One belonged to a young girl while the other belonged to an older man. **_

_**Naruto opened his eyes and saw the owner of the young girl's voice. **_

_**He heard her say, "Father! I don't even know this boy. I'm just concerned for his well-being." **_

_**When he focused his vision, he saw that it was the same young girl who he saw crying earlier. Naruto saw that she still had tears in her eyes. **_

'_**Is she still crying? Why is she still crying?' He thought. **_

_**Naruto sat up, surprising the girl, and leaned against the wooden fence next to him, as far from the adult as he could. **_

_**When he was sure he wasn't going to fall to his side, he nervously looked at the girl in front of him. The first thing that caught his attention was her lavender/white eyes at first thinking that they were kind of weird, but in a good way. In fact, he thought they were really cute, that she was really cute.**_

'_**W-Why did I just think t-that?' He had a small blush on his cheeks and looked in another direction. Then he found some courage and looked at the girl again.**_

"_**W-why a-are you c-crying, pretty girl?" He asked innocently. **_

_**Hinata's was surprised by his question and flushed a deeper shade of red. She had not expected him to say that. **_

"_**D-Did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide as saucers. **_

_**Fearing another beating, he hugged his knees to his chest and raised his arms over his head to defend himself. **_

"_**I-I'm s-sorry… I w-won't do it a-again. Just p-please, d-don't hit m-me." He cried out, tears pouring out of his eyes, thinking somewhat coherently; 'I thought that maybe she was different, that she really cried for me. I was stupid to think like that. The life of an insect is as, if not more, important than my own.'**_

_**Naruto, still unaware of Hiashi's presence, made to stand up, but he felt a hand on his shoulder. **_

_**Already afraid, he decided to take a chance and see whose hand was on his shoulder. He didn't expect to see Hinata's hand on his shoulder or her smiling a sad smile at him. The next thing she said really surprised Naruto the most.**_

"_**I-I'm not going to h-hurt you. What's your name?" **_

_**Naruto couldn't believe she just asked him that. In his entire life, he never had someone be as nice to him as Hinata was being right now. She still smiled at him while she waited for his answer, Naruto felt like he was about to doze off but decided to answer her anyways.**_

"_**N-Naruto. N-Naruto U-Uzumaki." His voice wavering and his eyes darting everywhere.**_

_**Hinata felt really bad for Naruto and decided to give him a hug. As soon as Naruto saw her stretch her arms out, he put his own arms on top of his head and hugged his knees, balling himself once again. He thought that now that she knew who he was, she would hate him and hurt him. Instead, she gave him a brief hug before softly forcing his head to lie on her lap. As Hinata ran her fingers through Naruto's hair, he started getting sleepy. He wanted to ask Hinata her name but couldn't because he felt himself losing consciousness. The last thing he remembered was a metallic smell in the air, cold liquid suddenly reaching his hands and hearing Hinata scream his name.**_

'_***.*.*.*'**_

"_**Naruto?" Hinata saw his eyes suddenly closing and felt something wet in the hand that was in his hair. When she looked at it, she saw his blood all over it. She couldn't believe she didn't feel it at first. She should've gotten Naruto to the hospital as soon as the mob left. But she couldn't feel her legs and could not make them stand. So instead she started panicking. **_

"_**NARUTO! NARUTO!" Hiashi, who remained quiet the whole time, suddenly picked up Naruto from Hinata's lap while she cried. **_

"_**Let's go, if we don't get him to the hospital soon, it might be too late." Hinata nodded at her father's words and they both headed to the hospital. Hinata was nervous and prayed that Naruto would be ok. Hiashi was just concerned on getting Naruto to the hospital. 'Minato, if only you could see how foolish these people are being.'**_

_**[Flashback End…]**_

Naruto remained still as he heard the door to his hospital room open. Then he saw someone enter his room from the corner of his eye. He instinctively flinched and scooted himself closer to the opposite edge of his bed. The Third Hokage came closer to Naruto when he saw that he was awake. But when he was two feet away from Naruto, Naruto threw his hands over his head and brought his knees closer to his chest.

"Please… don't!" Naruto yelled, which caused the Third to stop moving. "No…" He said quietly.

"Naruto, are you ok?" The third asked Naruto. The Third saw Naruto as a grandson and when he saw Naruto shy away from him, it broke his heart. "Naruto…"

"I said no!" Naruto said with hatred in his voice. Out of all of the people he thought he could trust in, it was the Third Hokage. But, as far as Naruto's knew, the Third hadn't done anything to help him out, save getting him an apartment, though he knew that wasn't enough. It hurt him to think that the only adult he trusted in wasn't helping or even looking out for him.

Any trust he had for him was now shattered, he couldn't spend another minute with the man, whom at first he thought that he could trust, but had broken that trust, he jumped out his room's window.

What he didn't know was that his room was on the third floor. Naruto saw the ground rushing right at him. He didn't want to die, not yet. He closed his eyes and hoped that if he died, it would be painless.

However, he never felt his body connect with the ground. Instead, he felt the wind pass through his head. When he opened his eyes, he saw the ground under him rushing past him. He quickly looked up and saw that some one had saved him from his fall. He was speechless; someone had apparently seen him fall to his death and saved him.

'_What if this person realizes who I am? I hope he or she doesn't drop me because we're pretty high.'_

Shortly after the person saved Naruto, they landed near a huge mansion. Naruto got to take a good look at the person who saved him. A very pretty woman, with long, black flowing hair, crimson red eyes that were the same color as her lips. She looked to be a chuunin and very young. Then she bent down until she was at eye level with Naruto.

"Are you ok kid?"

Naruto, already frightened, froze when he heard her ask him that. No one, in his entire life, had ever asked him if he was ok. Then she looked a little more serious and stood up straight. Naruto recoiled and threw his arms over his head again.

"What are you doing?" She asked, Naruto's actions confused her to no end. _'Why is he always flinching like that?'_

Naruto didn't know how to answer that so he didn't.

The woman sighed as she knew he wasn't going to answer her anytime soon.

'_Is she angry at me? Was it because I didn't answer her?'_ He thought as he put his arms down, accepting the beating that he thought was to come.

"Come here." She moved closer to Naruto as she said this. Naruto took a step back and sat down on the sidewalk and went back to defend himself, balled into the fetal position.

'_Why does he do that… does he really think that I'm going to harm him?'_ She thought jokingly, but as soon as she saw him shaking, she knew it was anything but a joke. _'He really thinks I'm going to hurt him.'_ She thought amazingly.

"I won't say this again. Naruto, come here." Naruto looked incredulous at her.

'_She… She knows who I am? And yet she still saved me?'_ Naruto, not wanting to upset the woman, walked right next to her. As soon as he was near enough, the woman crouched down until she was at eye level with Naruto again, pulling him into her arms and giving him a kiss on the forehead. Thinking; _'Poor boy… must have been through a lot so far…'_

'_She's… She's h-hugging me… after she gave me a k-kiss on the forehead. B-But why?'_

"W-Who… Who are y-you?" The woman gave Naruto a warm smile, not answering his question. _'I just don't understand girls, they were so confusing.'_ He thought before saying; "P-Please… don't waste your s-smiles on me. I'm not worth it."

The woman gasped, never had she heard anyone say they weren't worth smiling at; Naruto quickly removed himself from her hug, leaving her standing on the sidewalk where she had set him down. He prayed that nothing else would happen to him, he just wanted to go home.

He then heard her footsteps behind him so he ran, ran until he was near his house, and he got two blocks before he bumped into someone knocking himself onto his butt. When he looked up, he saw another boy on his own butt. Naruto got up as fast as he could and help him up; however, as soon as the other boy was on his feet, he pushed Naruto back down. He stood over him with a sense of superiority.

"You better watch where you're going idiot." He leered.

Naruto stood up, bowed his head and started to apologize. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean t-to bump into y-you."

Naruto wanted to run but his legs wouldn't move. Naruto could only watch in fear as the boy ran to him, ramming his knee into his stomach and he doubled over in pain. But he didn't stop there, he then punched Naruto in the chin and Naruto flew across the street. When he got up, his tears covering most of his cheeks, he braced himself for more.

"Why are you crying? You're supposed to be a boy and boys don't cry. Besides, I'm not done playing." The boy's evil smirk grew. Naruto couldn't handle the pain and everything started to get fuzzy. Naruto, realizing what this meant, eyes widened in fear. _'No, not again!'_ Naruto then blacked out, his body still remaining upright. When the boy saw Naruto's whole body go limp, he smirked.

"Giving up already huh weakling?" Asked the boy, to which Naruto could not answer, angering his adversary. "Well I'm not, so here I come!" The boy ran up to Naruto again and threw a fist straight at Naruto's face, but never connected.

His fist was halted by someone's hand, Naruto's, his face lowed. When Naruto picked up his head to stare at the boy, the boy saw something that surprised him, Naruto's eyes were different; they were a combination of green and red and had a swirl in it. Before the boy knew it, Naruto's fist slammed into his stomach, sending him all the way across the street, slamming into the side of building.

The boy staggered to his feet, his body aching everywhere from that one punch. But he didn't want to lose to the weakling of a boy who had run into him. Once again going on the offensive, the boy ran back at Naruto and roundhouse kicked at Naruto's head. Naruto ducked a second before the kick connected and grabbed the boy's foot, spun him around, and then let him fly back across the street back into the wall that he had already been sent into.

The boy was really in pain now, unable to move without his whole body feeling the pain. In a blink of an eye, Naruto stood over the boy with anger in his eyes. Naruto then reeled his fist back to send the finishing blow, but stopped. Naruto's whole body tensed up before it relaxed once more. Naruto regained consciousness and looked around. Then he looked down and saw the boy under him in pain.

Naruto was too shocked to even speak. '_I could've sworn he would've died; no one's ever survived after I got my consciousness back._' The boy, thinking that Naruto wasn't going to do anything, stood up and ran away.

After he felt that he had run far enough from the scene of the brief "battle" Naruto fell to his knees and looked at his hands, he had no idea what had just happened, but it wasn't the first time. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he looked up, he saw that it was the same woman from before, the one that had caught him.

'_She's going to tell the Hokage and I'm gonna be exiled or worse, killed.'_ But all the woman did was smile warmly at Naruto.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody." Then she motioned her thumb and index finger together and ran them across her lips, the same way you would close a zipper.

Naruto then smiled his first genuine smile in years, turned and hugged the woman. The woman cringed under Naruto's hug.

'_Does… Does this mean he trust me?'_ Apparently, Naruto felt the woman cringe because he stepped back, thinking he crossed the line.

"I'm sorry, I-I just thought…" He didn't even get to finish because the lady scooped him up and hugged him. Naruto just let the woman hug him; he was too surprised to do anything else anyways. After a couple of minutes, she pulled back from the hug and looked at Naruto in the eyes.

"Are you ok?" He nodded while he kept the same smile on his face.

"Are you sure?" He nodded again, she looked a bit skeptical, but let it go.

"Do you know who I am" Naruto shook his head 'no'.

'_I don't know this lady and yet she's so nice to me.'_

"My name is Yuhi Kurenai. And you are Uzumaki Naruto, correct?" Naruto nodded as his smile stayed in my lips. She knew exactly who he was and yet here she was, being very kind. Naruto as never felt as happy as he was right then. What Kurenai said next really got him happy. "Are you hungry?"

"Y-Yes." Naruto said timidly. Even though Kurenai was nice to him, he still didn't know if he could completely trust her, she smiled again and took his hand.

"Then come on, I know a couple of people, that won't mind you, that own a restaurant." She practically dragged Naruto because he didn't really want to go see any more adults. They scared him; all they did was hit him.

When they got to the restaurant, there saw a younger looking lady working the register. When the lady behind the counter looked at Naruto, he panicked and hid behind one of Kurenai's legs, causing the lady to laugh and that hurt Naruto's feelings, he thought she was laughing at him. The lady stopped laughing and went up to Naruto.

"I'm sorry little one; I didn't mean to laugh at you. You're just so cute when you do that." She pinched his cheeks and he blushed a little. Naruto nervously rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. Even though this lady was nice too, his fear of adults was just stronger. Then some old man came from out of nowhere and yelled,

"Ayame, what are you doing? There are customers…" The old man stopped when he saw Naruto hiding behind Kurenai.

He was so scared, this old man just yelled and scared Naruto even more, Naruto's been yelled at his whole life and still not used to it, as no one should be. The old man looked at him and then smiled.

"Well who do we have here? A little boy, huh? What's you're name young man?" Kurenai moved behind Naruto to let the old man see him better and shoved him a little forward.

"Come on; tell this nice man you're name." Kurenai insisted. Naruto looked back from Kurenai to the old man. The old man looked eager to find out his name.

"N-Naruto, U-Uzumaki N-Naruto." The old man's smile widened.

"Nice to meet you Naruto. My name's Teuchi and I own this ramen shop." Naruto looked at him confusingly.

'_What's ramen?'_ Apparently the old man knew what Naruto was thinking because he said,

"It looks like you don't know what that is, so how about this; I let you try one." He turned around and started walking into the kitchen, but before he could, Naruto spoke again.

"No, don't." This seemed to confuse the man and every other person in the room. "I d-don't want to b-bother you. You'd only b-be wasting y-you're time on m-me."

The younger lady, now known as Ayame, hugged Naruto from behind, he whimpered and thought she was going to hit him. Impulsively, he jumped from her arms and ran to Kurenai, and hid behind her legs again and closed his eyes. She was the only lady, person actually, he thought that he could trust.

"I'm sorry; he's been through a lot his whole life so he has trust issues. Though it seems he trusts me now." Naruto nodded his head and looked back at Ayame. Instead of her being angry like Naruto thought she'd be, she bent down and smiled at him.

"Don't worry Naruto-chan, I'm not mad. But I hope I can earn you trust soon." The old man soon joined in.

"Me too. And don't worry about this ramen, it's on the house." The old man, Teuchi, went to his kitchen to prepare this 'ramen'. Kurenai picked Naruto up and placed him in one of the chairs and Ayame ruffled his hair. Teuchi came back with a big bowl filled with ramen. Naruto spontaneously stood from his seat and sniffed his food. He sniffed it like an animal would, a fox maybe, causing Ayame and Kurenai squealed, though Kurenai's was so low, not many of people heard it. Naruto grabbed some chopsticks from the container and started eating. He really enjoyed eating the ramen. Naruto was eating it so fast that by the time he finished everyone looked at him funny, making him duck his head and flush a deep crimson.

"Thank you Teuchi, really. Naruto, don't you have something to say." Kurenai said as she picked him up. Naruto lifted his head off her shoulder and said,

"T-Thank you, sir. It was really d-delicious." Teuchi smiled at him and nodded his head. Naruto then buried his head back on her shoulder and closed his eyes shut.

"I'll see you later Ayame, Teuchi." With a wave of good-bye, Kurenai left the ramen bar and was walking. After some time, she stopped and pulled him apart from her. "Now Naruto, I'm sure you're tired by now, right?" Naruto tried to suppress a yawn but couldn't.

"Ok then, where do you live?" Naruto looked around and spotted his apartment. He pointed to the run-down apartment across the street. She seemed surprise at first but then she got angry.

"I'm s-sorry if you d-don't like it b-but its a-all that was l-left." He cried into her shirt, Kurenai only hugged him tighter and walked past his house. "W-Where are y-you taking m-me?"

She didn't answer. She looked very angry, which kind of scared him, so he stayed quiet the whole time.

'_How dare Hokage-sama give Naruto an apartment like that one!'_ Kurenai slowed her pace down a bit when she saw the Hokage tower. When they went inside she put Naruto down in front of the Third Hokage's office.

"Wait here ok? I'll be back in a moment." Then Kurenai headed inside to talk to the Hokage.

As Naruto waited, he heard many of the adults say things like "Demon spawn," or "Demon", "Abomination" and other hurtful names. He didn't understand it; he didn't know what he had done to be the victim of so many cruel names. He couldn't handle it anymore; he ran into the Hokage's office and grabbed Kurenai's leg as soon as he saw her, tears streaming down his face.

"DO YOU SEE WHAT THESE IDIOTIC VILLAGERS HAVE DONE TO THIS POOR BOY?" Kurenai shrieked at the cringing Hokage. "DO YOU SEE WHY I'M HERE RIGHT NOW? HIS WHOLE LIFE HIS BEEN LIKE HE IS RIGHT NOW! HE NEEDS MORE THAN THAT USELESS LAW AND YOU GIVING HIM SOME CRAPPY APARTMENT THAT LOOKS LIKE IT COULD FALL ON HIM AT ANY SECOND; HE NEEDS SOME ONE THERE FOR HIM! AN ADULT, SOME ONE LIKE ME!"

Though Naruto knew that he wasn't being shouted at, his grip still tightened on Kurneai's leg, causing her to pick him up and softly hugged him. "Shh… I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be so loud." All the while glaring at the Hokage.

"I see what you mean, but there's nothing more I can do about the situation. I've done all I can. The council has control over domestic trials and laws. I already pushed it by insisting on giving him that apartment. If you want to take him in you're going to have to talk to the council." The third Hokage said. Naruto looked at him for a second before looking away. "I'm sorry Naruto."

"Tch, fine." The chuunin scoffed. "If I have to talk to a bunch of stubborn old jerks than that's what I'll do." Kurenai walked away while she still held Naruto.

When he looked back at the Hokage, he saw a single tear fall from his cheek.

"Ok Naruto, you're coming home with me today and then tomorrow, I'll talk to the old men to ask to make it permanent. Is that ok with you?" He nodded his head as he started to doze off as the stress of the day began to take its hold him. Kurenai let out a soft sigh and said, "Go to sleep now Naruto, it's a long walk back to my house."

The second she said that, he let his head rest on her shoulder and fell asleep. When she was sure he was asleep, she spoke again. "I swear to you Naruto, I'll make sure you're protected." She kissed his forehead and continued her walk home.

* * *

**Well, that's it! That's how I think it would've happen if Naruto wasn't the brave, dumb, loud and cheery Naruto as portrayed in the anime/manga... Leave a review if you want to... I'd really appreciate it if you did, but you don't have to...**

**Good luck with whatever...!  
**


	2. Why me?

**Here's chapter 2! A lot of people seem to like this story so I thought to continue it!**

**I didn't mention it before but I'd like to thank Aengus for BETA-reading this! Nice use of vocab bro!**

**On a personal note, I'd like to dedicate this story to my uncle who died last year. He was really close to me and to suddenly leave like that really devastated me... Today was his birthday and I wished he was still alive to celebrate it...  
But please don't pity me, I'm fine now. I know how to cope and I'm OK...  
**

**Anyways, enjoy the story!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto!**

**

* * *

**Naruto awoke in a comfortable bed. That was enough to get him off it, Naruto had never had a comfortable bed and this worried him.

_'What happened yesterday?'_ he thought as he scoured his mind for his memories of the previous day, he remembered, being attacked, the girl who had cried for him, the incident at the hospital, he remembered running into the rude boy, he remembered that Kurenai told him that he could sleep at her house. He relaxed at that a bit and he walked out of the room wondering where Kurenai was. Walking down the hallway he could hear noises coming from what he assumed was a kitchen.

"Um... Good morning, Kurenai-san." Naruto said nervously, Kurenai turned around with a smile and walked to Naruto, she gave him a hug as she said

"Good morning to you too."

"I hope I didn't cause a lot of trouble for you." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head and staring at the floor, Kurenai got up and walked back into the kitchen, shaking her head.

"You were no trouble at all Naruto." Kurenai was constantly moving her arms around and walking from the sink to the stove. When Naruto's curiosity got the better of him, he impulsively asked,

"Kurenai-san, what are you doing?" Kurenai halted and looked at Naruto with a question in her eyes. "I mean, you keep moving your arms all over and moveing around the kitchen. I was just wondering what you were doing?" It came out quiet and meek, but Kurenai heard it all. She smiled at him before going back to do what she was doing before.

"I'm making breakfast. I get hungry in the morning, I know that you do as well, and I'm not letting you leave until you eat something..." Naruto was about to retort, but Kurenai cut him off, not even looking at him. "And I'm not taking 'no' as an answer so you might as well sit down on the table and wait until I finish." Seeing as arguing was not going to help, he sat down on the table and waited. He waited for a few minutes before deciding to speak again.

"Can I at least help set up the table?" Kurenai, shrugged and continued working saying, "Knock yourself out. The plates are in the cabinet to your left and the spoons, forks and knifes are in the drawer next to me."

Naruto nodded and got up to set the table. He first got the forks and knifes since he could reach those. Kurenai slightly turned her head to let Naruto see her smile, causing Naruto to smile back, putting the forks and knives on the table. Now his next task would be a challenge, the plates were at the top of the cabinet, over a foot higher than Naruto. Not wanting to bother Kurenai, Naruto grabbed the nearest chair and placed it in front of the open cabinet; he climbed in top of the chair and was suddenly tall enough to reach the plates without much trouble.

He thought he heard something creak but ignored it as he grabbed two glass plates. As though the gods were still bored, the chair broke out from underneath his feet, sending him and the plates onto the floor. Naruto instinctively rolled out of under the falling ceramics and watched as the plates shattered into a thousand pieces. Kurenai whipped around the instant she heard the chair break and watched, with Naruto, as her plates shattered; and ran to Naruto, who through his hands over his face, cowering from the women.

"I-I-I'm sorry, I can pay for..." He sobbed but didn't finish because Kurenai held him at arms length and examined him.

"You're not hurt are you?" She asked, worry evident in her voice, Naruto shook his head dumbly.

"N-N-N-No." He replied, still stuttering.

Kurenai let out a sigh of relief and lightly slapped the back of his head.

"What were you thinking? You could've hurt yourself. I could've helped you get the plates down."

"I-I know... I just didn't want to be a bother y-you." Naruto hugged Kurenai and hoped she forgave him.

"It's okay, really. I have more plates and you're safe; that's all that matters. Now come on, breakfast is ready, but this time _I'll _get the plates." Naruto nodded happily and sat back down at the table.

They both remained silent through the whole meal. Naruto had a question running around his mind and he didn't know how much longer he could go before he would burst. Kurenai saw the look on his face and had to find out what it was he wanted.

"What seems to be bothering you Naruto?" Naruto looked up from his plate a bit taken aback, he let out a loud exhale before talking.

"It's just..." Naruto seemed to be over thinking what he wanted to ask. "Nothing..."

"No Naruto, tell me." Naruto shook his head and continued eating. "Naruto, I'm not going to ask again." Naruto knew he was fighting a hopeless battle.

"W-What's it like being a ninja?" Kurenai looked at Naruto skeptically.

_'Should I tell him?'_

"Well, it pays the bills, that's for sure. And... Well, it's very strenuous. Takes a lot of hard work to be a ninja. Not only that, but you need the drive to be a ninja, determination and most importantly, heart."

Naruto looked curiously at her.

"Heart?"

"Yes, heart. You see, most people say that ninja's should be emotionless because supposedly emotions cloud your judgments and you make mistakes." Kurenai closed her eyes and thought about what to say next. "But the way I see it, emotions can make a ninja stronger." Naruto was confused.

_'Logically, emotions distract you. How can emotions make a ninja stronger if they can get you side tracked?' _

As if Kurenai could read his mind, she continued.

"You see, if the person you love is hurt or threatened, wouldn't you do everything in your power to keep them safe? Wouldn't you give your all to save your precious person?"

"I-I guess."

"Exactly, you'd probably protect your precious person even as you breathed your last breath."

"I understand now. Thank you Kurenai-san."

"Glad to hear it. Now, is that all that's troubling you?" Naruto looked to his right, trying to avoid making eye contact with Kurenai.

"Well... There is something, but I'm sure it wouldn't happen."

"What is it?" Naruto fidgetted in his seat as he tried to find the words to say.

"I-I was wondering if you'd... you'd be able to get me into the academy so I-I could become a ninja." Kurenai choked on the egg she was eating and slowly coughed it out.

"You want to be a ninja?" She said. Naruto nodded as she composed herself. "Well sure, but only if you really want to."

"Really?" Kurenai nodded.

"Really." Naruto jumped out of his seat and hugged Kurenai while repeatedly thanking her. "Ok, ok, that's enough. Go get ready because we need to get you new clothes."

Naruto immediately let go of Kurenai and shook his head.

"I couldn't ask you to get me new clothes. Besides, there's nothing wrong with the clothes I have on." Unfortunately for Naruto, clothes can't lie. He wore a pale black shirt with three holes; one near the bottom left, one near his neck and one under his left sleeve. His shorts, well, he's lucky he had a thin string holding it up because it would constantly be falling and tripping him.

"Nonsense, my treat." She got up and picked up the dishes she and Naruto just used. "Hurry up and take a shower, I'll have fresh clothes you can borrow from my neighbor for you by the time you get out." Naruto ran to the bathroom as quickly as possible. No matter how much he trust her, Kurenai can still scare Naruto to death.

After Naruto finished his shower, he came out and looked around the outside of the bathroom. He saw a grey t-shirt and black sweat pants. He picked it up and ran back into the bathroom. He quickly changed and went to the living room. He saw Kurenai waiting patiently on her couch. She looked up to see Naruto standing in the door way.

"Well well, look at you, quite handsome." She said which made Naruto blush. She chuckled, stood up and walked over to Naruto. "You ready to go?" He nodded and they both walked out of her home.

[*.*.*.*]

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE CAN'T LIVE WITH ME!?!" Kurenai shrieked at the council. She had spent a productive day with Naruto and was now looking forward to spending as much time as she could with him, living with her.

They had first went into a clothing store to buy him new clothes, the store clerk glared at Naruto, but Naruto was blissfully unaware of his glares and Kurenai kept him too busy to pay any attention to the clerk. Kurenai bought him five white shirts with a grey spiral in the middle of the back of the shirt, with those came another five blue sleeveless sweater and five pairs of black shorts that went about an inch below his knees. They also bought him two pairs of black ninja sandals. She was sort of glad they finished shopping for clothes because the whole time Naruto only nodded and smiled as Kurenai showed him new clothes, not showing any other emotion.

When they left the store, Kurenai treated Naruto to some more ramen, which he gladly accepted. Though he was quiet the whole time, she could tell he was happy.

After they ate, she dropped him off at her house so she could speak with Konoha's council. He relented to separate from her but she guaranteed he'd see her again.

Now, when she went to the council to request that Naruto move in with her, not a formal adoption, just as a guardian figure; they denied it.

"What we mean is that we deny your request to take in Naruto. Simple as that." A council member stated, his arrogant attitude evident in his voice, Kurenai was already impatient with the council, denying her was not helping.

"And why do you deny my request? What reason do you have to deny it?" She said, hoping they wouldn't have a good reason.

"Why is it you want the _boy_ to move in with you?" A councilwoman demanded, her snide smirk cutting into Kurenai, earning the praise of her fellow council members.

"That is none of your concern, and is trivial compared to your reason for denying my request." Kurenai shot back without missing a beat, the councilwoman sat down, knowing she has lost that argument. The council members mumbled, deciding what logical reason they have for contradicting her request.

"He is a troublemaker. He needs to be punished." The others nodded in agreement, but Kurenai only smirked.

"Yes I agree; he deserves to be punished. But how are you going to do that if there's no one who has authority over him? He needs someone to act as his guardian. And I say I should be his guardian." The council mumbled amongst themselves again, debating on whether they should agree or not. Just as they were about to announce their decision, some one burst into the room, almost taking the doors out of their hinges.

"Stop this meeting!" Yelled Sasuke Uchiha as he entered the room, surprising everyone in it, sporting a broken arm.

"Sasuke Uchiha, what business do you have here?" Said a council member. Sasuke smirked as he walked over to the member that spoke.

"I'm here to tell you that I've been attacked." Kurenai raised an eyebrow and looked on in confusion.

"I'm sorry to say but that has nothing to do with us nor with this meeting, so if you'd please leave..." Kurenai said, not really enjoying the boy's presence.

"Oh, but it does Kurenai, it does indeed." A voice called from outside the room. When the person came into the room, he continued. "It has everything to do with this meeting." Kurenai didn't understand until she saw the look on Sasuke's face.

_'Oh no...'_

"The person that attacked the Uchiha was none other than Naruto Uzumaki." Mizuki, a newly appointed chuunin, said as he made his way to stand beside Sasuke.

"There's your reason Kurenai. The _boy_ is a menace. I agree with you that the boy needs to be watched over, but it will not be you. It will be an ANBU who we see is competent enough to watch over _and _control the damned child." The council member affirmed. The other members immediately agreed. "So it shall be." The member said quickly as to leave no room for argument. Kurenai stood speechless as Mizuki and Sasuke smirked haughtily.

"This meeting is over. Kurenai, you may now leave." Kurenai stood unmoving.

"No! It's not over!" Was all she said before two ANBU appeared and dragged her from the room. She struggled under both ANBU's hold but could not escape.

_'I'm sorry Naruto; I have failed you...'_

[*.*.*.*]

Kurenai slowly walked home, thinking of a way to explain to Naruto that he could not stay with her. She reached her house sooner than she wanted to, and sighed as she unlocked the front door to her house. When she went in, she was greeted with the sight of a chocolate covered Naruto eating out of an ice cream package. His hair had chocolate spots, so did his clothes and his cheeks. As soon as Naruto saw Kurenai, he smiled widely and waved at her. Surprisingly, her carpet didn't have any of the chocolate stains like Naruto.

"Hello Kurenai-san." Naruto said before he continued to shovel down more ice cream. Kurenai smiled softly as she closed the door behind her.

"Hey there Naruto." She replied softly, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice. Naruto kept on forcing the ice cream into his mouth, causing more chocolate to fall into his face. Kurenai chuckled softly as she watched him stuff himself with ice cream. She grimaced as she remembered the news she had to tell him.

Naruto had stopped eating just enough to notice Kurenai's expression. Naruto looked at her, then at the ice cream, then her again and then the ice cream again before standing up. He picked up the ice cream and walked over to Kurenai. She didn't even realize he moved until he was right in front of her holding the ice cream up.

"Have some Kurenai-san, it's really good." Naruto said, trying to convince her to take some, Kurenai couldn't help herself, she smiled and got a finger full of ice cream and ate it.

"Naruto, there's something I should tell you." Naruto immediately didn't like the sound of that. "I'm... I'm sorry Naruto, but the stupid council with all their wisdom didn't want you living with me." Naruto let the ice cream fall to the floor after hearing her words. He couldn't believe; he just didn't understand why they didn't let him stay with Kurenai.

"But... But why?" He said, trying hopelessly not to cry. Kurenai also had to resist crying after seeing Naruto's expression.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I'm not allowed to say." Naruto looked right at Kurenai.

"You mean you know why they didn't allow me to stay? Or do you know why I'm hated?" Kurenai didn't reply right away, leaving Naruto to believe she knew both. "Tell me..."

"I can't..." She started saying but Naruto cut her off.

"Yes you can, I know you know why I'm hated. You're probably the only one that'll tell me. Please, let me know why I'm hated so much." Naruto tears escaped their imprisonment at this point. Kurenai debated with herself, deciding whether or not to actually tell him. She exhaled loudly as she prepared herself.

"Do you know the story of Kyuubi and his attack on Konoha?" Naruto nodded, having heard the story before. "Well, he wasn't killed, couldn't be killed, defeated but never killed. The Fourth Hokage was forced to seal him into a child, a newborn. It was the Fourth Hokage dying wish that this newborn would be seen as a hero in the eyes of the villagers but instead they shunned him, hated him, refused to recognize him as a hero." Naruto's eyes widened as this information began to register in his mind. "The newborn was you, you have the Kyuubi sealed in you Naruto. I know people think of you as that demon but I don't. Don't think just because I know this doesn't mean I'll abandon you." She hugged Naruto, hoping that it'll help him. Naruto hesitantly huged Kurenai back.

"Thank... Thank you." He said, happy to know that he had at least someone he could trust. "So what will happen now, Kurenai-san?" Kurenai pulled back from the hug so she could look at Naruto in the eye.

"Well during the meeting, an unexpected visitor came and told the council that you attacked him. I'm sure by now you know who." Naruto, at first, wondered whom she was talking about until he remembered that he had defended himself from Sasuke yesterday. "With this information, they said that you would be watched by an ANBU they believe is able to watch over you and make sure you don't cause more trouble." Naruto panicked as she told him of the ANBU. He had seen an ANBU before, but it wasn't exactly the best memory.

"I see..." Naruto said, seemingly devoid of all emotions but sadness. Kurenai couldn't stand it when he was like that, so she said the first thing she could think of.

"Do you still want to be a ninja?" Naruto nodded passively. "Well then, how about I help you out? You know, help you understand everything that needs to be understood." Naruto smiled and automatically nodded. "Good. I got a mission to do and I won't be back till later today. That's when we'll start. I have to warn you though; I won't go easy on you just because you're young. I have high expectations for you and I hope you reach them, is that clear." And for the first time, Naruto stood straight, held his head high and said proudly:

"Yes Kurenai-sensei, I understand. I promise you I will reach your expectations, even exceed them." Kurenai smiled as she saw the determination in Naruto's eyes.

[*.*.Time Skip - 7 years.*.*]

Naruto sat quietly in his seat as he waited for Iruka to show up. Naruto spent the last seven years training under Kurenai, training to be the best in his class. She helped Naruto realize when he is in a genjutsu and how to disspell it. She also trained him in taijutsu and ninjutsu, though she got some help with both since she wasn't an expert in either field, somehow she had convinced Maito Gai to train Naruto in taijutsu. It took nearly a year before Naruto felt comfortable being in Gai's presense, though he still gets a little freaked with Gai's constant exclamations of youth. Who she got to teach Naruto about ninjutsu was none other than the ANBU who was supposed to watch over him.

_**[Flashback…]**_

_**On the first day of training, Naruto was working on some hand seals Kurenai taught him while she supervised him. Suddenly, she spotted an ANBU sitting in a near by tree. She motioned the ANBU to join them. The ANBU was suspicious of her motives, but joined her anyways.**_

_**"Yes Yuhi-san?" The ANBU said. Kurenai laughed at the ANBU, promptly confusing the ANBU. "What's so funny?" The Anbu asked.**_

_**"Cut the crap Kakashi, I know it's you under that mask." The ANBU removed his ANBU mask, revealing a man wearing another mask that hid everything under his eyes. Though the oddest thing about him was the bandanna he wore, which covered his left eye. Kakashi eye smiled at Kurenai.**_

_**"Guess I'm not good at hiding my identity as I thought I was." Kurenai shook her and laughed again. As she calmed down, she remembered why she had called him down in the first place.**_

_**"Listen Kakashi, I know the council sent you to watch over Naruto, to make sure he wouldn't cause much trouble. But I was wondering if you'd do both of us a favor." Kakashi raised his only visible eyebrow. **_

_**"Oh? And what would that be?" He asked, his curiosity piqued.**_

_**"Well, two favors actually. The first is that you teach him some jutsus and help him understand them, their uses, you know, give him the basics of it all. The second favor is that I'd rather not let the council know of Naruto's training. They'll want to stop it immediately and separate him from me. All I want you to do is make something up every time he's training. Can you do that for me?" Kurenai asked, hoping he'd agree with her. Kakashi stood passively as he contemplated.**_

_**"I can help out with his training. I just have to help him learn new jutsu's and understand the basics? Yeah, I can do that, but the other favor... Well, that one I'm not sure I can do." **_

_**"What? Why not?"**_

_**"Well because, I just can't lie to them, they expect me to report an honest report and you know I'm a bad liar." He said.**_

_**"Then I'll help you make something up. Come on, you have to help him." Kurenai pleaded. Kakashi still thought it over.**_

_**"I don't know. Still seems kind of risky..."**_

_**"What do you want Kakashi? Money? Women... Men?" Kurenai asked, fearful that he'd choose men. Kakashi face faulted.**_

_**"NO! I don't want men. What I do want is something that they sell at the book store." He said, wiggling his only visible eyebrow. Kurenai sweat dropped, knowing right away what he meant.**_

_**"You don't mean..." Kakashi just nodded. Kurenai sighed. "Fine, I'll get you that stupid perverted book, but only if you agree to help me train Naruto and keep his training a secret. Not only to the council though, but to everyone. Got that?" Kakashi nodded his head excitedly.**_

_**[Flashback End…]**_

Naruto remembered everything Kurenai, Kakashi and Gai taught him. Naruto still wore the outfit Kurenai bought him, well actually, he bought the same clothes she gotten him but in bigger sizes. The only difference to his outfit is the fact that he bought fingerless gloves with a metal plate in the back. He grew taller, as everyone does when they grow older, but he was tall for some one his age, even Sasuke was an inch or two shorter than him.

A year after his training started, Kurenai had him enrolled into the ninja academy. Unfortunately, Uchiha Sasuke was enrolled into the academy on the same day, where he shoved Naruto into a closet and locked him in. Naruto was in the closet for about ten minutes before Kurenai found him. When she asked him how he got himself locked in, he said he accidentally tripped and closed the door, locking himself in, Kurenai knew that he was lying, she could always tell, but let it go.

During the last six years, Sasuke and Sakura, Sasuke's ultimate fan girl or so she says, constantly teased him. On the first day of school, he sat near the back, along with Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akamichi. Naruto made friends with Hinata as soon as she sat down. She had asked him what his name was, albeit softly and nervously, he still heard her, his reply was no louder than her's had been.

Sasuke had seen Naruto talking to Hinata and went put a stop to it. He told Naruto Sakura wanted to talk to him, so he stood up and went over to Sakura, and Sasuke sat down in his seat and tried to tell Hinata lies so then she wouldn't want to talk to Naruto. She didn't believe him and told him to leave Naruto's seat, the Uchiha ignored her, and when Naruto came back, he had a huge bump on his head and a black eye. Hinata stood, ignoring Sasuke like he had her, up and took him to the nurse.

Sadly, the nurse kicked Naruto out and told him he was fine.

Ever since then, Naruto sat in a chair all the way in the back of the class, isolating himself from the rest of his classmates. Hinata wanted to help him, but he wouldn't let her, always telling her he was fine the way he was.

All of a sudden, he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around and saw Hinata standing in front of him, hands behind her back and smiling confidently. She wore a light lavender sleeveless Chinese shirt, navy blue capris and the traditional ninja shoes. She let her hair grow so that it reached her mid-back.

"Good morning Naruto-kun." She said with an air of confidence. It only took Hinata a year or so to get over her shyness. Ever since, she had taken a shine to Naruto, which confused him to no end. Naruto smiled softly and stood up, he still felt weird around girls, but not with Hinata, she was different. He knew he could talk with her without having that same weird feeling he had with other girls but he would feel nervous when he was around her. It was a feeling he didn't understand and mostly ignored it, it was nothing.

"Good morning Hinata-san." Hinata sat down in her seat and motioned him to sit next to her. He nervously made his way to the seat next to her.

"So, you excited about graduating?" She asked, obviously happy about something, Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, I want to be a ninja already. I've wanted to be one for seven years, and tomorrow, I just might be one." Hinata nodded eagerly. "Are you?" She nodded again. Their attention was turned to Iruka suddenly 'POOF'-ed into the room.

"Good morning class. As you know, today is the final exam. So we will now start the exam. If your name is called, come to the class next door. The final exam will be on the Clone jutsu. As you wait, you can do what you want as long as it doesn't cause trouble" Just as Iruka called the first student to take the exam, Sasuke came up to Naruto and spoke to him.

"Hey Naruto." Hinata stood up and glared at the last Uchiha. Everyone heard about the Uchiha massacre and how Itachi for some reason let Sasuke live. He grew more distant and cold, but most of it was directed to Naruto.

"What do you want with Naruto-kun, Sasuke?" She said angrily. He glared back at Hinata before looking at Naruto again.

"I just came here to wish you good luck and to give you this." Sasuke non-chalantly said as he handed Naruto a water bottle. Both Naruto and Hinata looked at the bottle quizzically.

"What'd you put in it Uchiha?" Hinata said suspiciously. If she knew Sasuke like she thinks she does, he did something to it.

"Nothing, its just tea. I saw that you were a little nervous so I thought you might want to drink some. It's supposed to relax you." Sasuke said. Naruto opened the water bottle and sniffed it. He too, was suspicious of Sasuke's intentions but when he didn't smell anything, he drank it. Sasuke smirked and walked away. "Good luck."

"Naruto Uzumaki." Iruka said. Naruto stood and started walking but stopped as Hinata hugged him from behind.

"Good luck Naruto-kun." Naruto blushed and felt the weird feeling he always got in his stomach when he's around Hinata, except it was ten times worse because of the hug.

"T-Thanks Hinata." He eventually said and left the classroom.

"Whenever you're ready Naruto." Mizuki said scathingly when Naruto entered the testing room. Naruto nodded, closed his eyes and did the hand seal to do the _Bushin_, he suddenly opened his eyes and yelled,

"**Bushin no Jutsu!**" and then he was surrounded by smoke. When the smoke cleared, Iruka and Mizuki saw two Narutos. The original one stood next to the crapped out clone on the floor. Iruka's eye twitched and Mizuki desperately tried not to laugh. Naruto didn't believe he couldn't do it; it was the first thing Kurenai taught him how to do.

"You fail!" Iruka yelled, Naruto sunk into himself, and looked crestfallen.

"Come on Iruka-sensei, he had the right hand signs and he gave it his all. We should let him pass." Mizuki said. Iruka was about to retort but Naruto beat him to it.

"No... It's fine Mizuki-sensei. I didn't do it well enough to pass. I don't want to be given special treatment." Naruto held his head down as he walked out of the room. He didn't even go back into the classroom. He just left and sat on the swings outside.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto saw the students' parents congratulate their child for passing. He heard parents say _"That's my boy!"_ or _"I'm so proud of you!"_ Naruto frowned and wished at least some one would comfort him. Naruto faced the opposite direction, looked up a tree and said,

"Is there something you need Mizuki-sensei?" Mizuki was surprised Naruto noticed him up the tree. He jumped down and stood next to Naruto.

"Yes, I'd like it if you'd come with me." Naruto hesitated for a moment before he followed Mizuki. They stopped at the roof of an apartment building, over looking the sunset.

"What is it Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked as they sat down.

"Iruka-sesei is tough, but he's not against you." Mizuki started. Naruto didn't understand right away but figured if out after a few seconds.

"Then why? Why only me?" Naruto asked.

"He wants you to be strong, with all his heart. But that will never happen if he goes easy on you." Mizuki paused for a second before continuing. "He's like you, you know. No parents, no family…"

"But... I really wanted to graduate." Naruto said solemnly. He felt left out, knowing everyone in his class graduated but him. Naruto heard Mizuki chuckle.

"Then I guess I have to tell you."

"Huh?"

"It's a secret, but I'm gonna let you in on it." Mizuki said as he smiled at Naruto.

_'A secret?'_ Naruto thought suspiciously.

[*.*.*.*]

Iruka was sitting in his home, thinking over the Third Hokage's words, when suddenly there was a knock on his door.

"Iruka open up!" Yelled Mizuki. Iruka stood up and opened the door to see a panicking Mizuki. "We've been called by the Hokage. It's Naruto, he stole the Sacred scroll."

"You mean the Scroll of Sealing?" Mizuki nodded and left to see the Hokage. "Damn..." Iruka said as he followed they arrived, they saw several other Jounin speaking to the Hokage heatedly.

"Sir, this isn't just some stupid prank. What he did is illegal." One jounin said.

"That scroll contains information only known in Konoha. If it falls into the wrong hands, it could be the death of us." Another said.

"I understand that... bring Naruto back here. Unharmed" The Third Hokage said as his dismissed them.

"Sir!" They all said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

* * *

**This is it for chapter 2! Hope you liked it!**

**Now, I want you to tell me what you liked or didn't like about this story...**

**You don't have to but it'd probably help make this story a little better... I'll update as soon as I can, promise...**

**Don't forget to check out my other stories if you like NaruHina stories...  
**

**Good luck with whatever!  
**


	3. I'm a ninja damn it!

**Chapter 3!**

**Sorry about the delay for those still reading this...**

**Well thanks for all the reviews and those who read!**

**Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto...  
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In his vision, he sees trees passing by, leaves flying around and the cabin Mizuki told him to head to. With the scroll on his back, Naruto was amazed by how fast he was able to reach the cabin. He landed quietly on the forest floor in front of the cabin. He sat down and rested from his run, sitting the forbidden scroll next to him and used it as a pillow to lie against; with a sigh he looked up at the night sky and saw the many stars shining brightly over the Earth.

"I wish I was a star. They are beautiful, bright and people seem to admire them. They're the lucky ones." Naruto said, stretching his arms over his head.

Elsewhere, Iruka was frantically looking for Naruto, in hopes to find him first.

'_Damn it Naruto, where are you and why did you take the scroll?_' Iruka thought as he continued searching frantically for Naruto. Mizuki appeared behind him as he tried to catch up to Iruka.

"Iruka, I'll check the woods on this side and you check the one on the other side of the village." Iruka shook his head. He didn't know what it was, but he felt like he should check out the woods on this side.

"No, I'll check this side." Mizuki hesitantly nodded and ran in the other direction. Iruka turned and went into the woods, jumping from tree to tree and still, all he saw were trees, no Naruto.

Naruto could hear someone coming so he snuck to the back of the cabin. He had read the scroll and learned two new jutsus, plus he wrote an extra one down. He had been practicing on the first one on his own, the second one had to be used on a person, but since he didn't see anyone else to use it on, practice had to come later. The third one he knew he couldn't do until he was well trained but he knew it would come in handy later in his life so he wrote it down in a scroll and put it in his pouch. He had just finished perfecting the first one when he heard someone approaching, fast, too fast.

He knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what it was exactly; to err on the side of caution he set up a trap just in case he's instinct would prove him right. After setting up the trap, Naruto walked in the middle of the clearing with the scroll strapped on his back as he waited for the person to arrive. He thought it was Mizuki since he was the one who told him of the place but was surprised to see Iruka jumped from the trees.

Iruka has been searching for at least thirty minutes until he saw the cabin in a clearing, something that he hadn't seen before. He decided to check it out and on his way there, he could see Naruto staring in his direction. He jumped from the trees and landed two feet away from Naruto, and seeing Naruto's surprised look and Iruka shook his head.

"Why would you steal the forbidden scroll Naruto?" Iruka shouted, surprising Naruto even more.

"S-Steal? I-I didn't steal it I-Iruka-sensei. Mizuki-sensei t-told me I still h-had another chance to g-g-graduate. He told me a-all I had to do was b-bring this s-s-s-scroll here and wait for h-him." Naruto explained, to Iruka's shock.

'_Mizuki? He's behind all this?_' Iruka thought incredulously. A silhouette smirks in the distance as it throws a fuuma shuriken, a very large projectile, at the unsuspecting chuunin and academy student. Fortunately, Naruto did notice the approaching weapon and also noticed Iruka was too shocked to react to the shuriken, he shoved Iruka out of the way and the shuriken hit him straight in the chest, piercing into his organs. Naruto fell on the floor with a dull thud and lay motionless under the shuriken. His eyes were unfocused as they stared at Iruka, a little blood coming out of his mouth.

Again, Iruka was too surprised to react when Mizuki came from out of the shadows.

"I was aiming for both of you but it seems the demon brat has better senses than I thought he had." He turned his head to look at Iruka, unaware that his fellow teacher and chuunin was now angry at with him for his treachery and for killing Naruto. "Looks like I saved the village from the demon." Mizuki said proudly.

"HOW DARE YOU!" He bellowed, Mizuki frowns and completely faces Iruka.

"What do you care?" The grey-haired chuunin asks. "Don't you remember he's the reason why you were an orphan? The reason why your parents never came home after his attack on the village." Mizuki questioned.

Iruka bowed his head so his eyes weren't visible. Iruka then remembered the words the Third Hokage said to him just after he had met Naurto:

"_**You know… He's a lot like you Iruka." The Third Hokage said.**_

"_**Who is?" Iruka asked.**_

"_**Naruto. He's like you in many ways. He has no parents, noone to take care of him. He has to work for everything. Even though Kurenai-san has been there to teach him a thing or two, he's still lonely. One person isn't enough, not for him anyways."**_

"_**What are trying to say Hokage-sama?" The Third Hokage puffed his pipe and blew off the smoke before he answered.**_

"_**Nothing really, just try to understand the boy. He's been through a lot just as you have."**_

"Yes, the demon's the reason why I am an orphan, why my parents never returned after his attack on the village…"

"So why…" Mizuki said before being interrupted by Iruka.

"But Naruto's not Kyuubi, he's not the demon that attacked the village. He's his jailor, a hero who keeps Kyuubi from returning to finish the job. And for that, I accept him just as I accept my other students. There's no chance in hell that I will ever see him differently." Iruka said angrily. Suddenly, both chuunin notice someone moving, so they turn their heads and are surprised by what they see.

Naruto is standing, the shuriken still in buried in his torso, as he smirks at Iruka.

"Thanks for accepting... me… Iruka... sensei." Naruto said before he vanished. Mizuki's eyes widened and Iruka let out a sigh of relief. He had hoped beyond reason that Naruto didn't die, but before he could return to the matter of Mizuki, out of nowhere, Naruto reappears from underneath ground and sends a right hook right at Mizuki's chin. His fist hits dead on and sends the traitorous chuunin flying into the air. Naruto stands confidently as he watches gravity work its magic on Mizuki. As he hits the ground, Iruka ran to Naruto, staring in disbelief.

"Naruto, how did you do that?" Iruka asked, amazed by Naruto's plan and power.

"I-It didn't feel right, this 'secret test' that Mizuki-sensei t-told me about. When I got here, I started reading the scroll b-but it seemed weird that a-an academy student had to take a forbidden scroll, t-take it to a s-secluded area and l-learn at least one j-jutsu from it. After I learned the kage bushin, I-I heard someone coming, I felt uneasy as the person came closer s-so I made a clone and had him s-stand here to wait w-while I hid under ground." Naruto explained with a timid smile, Iruka placed his hand on top of Naruto's head and smiled back. He was proud of Naruto, knowing this was only the beginning of a great man that he was going to become.

"You think you won brat, just because you got a cheap shot? HUH!?" Mizuki shrieked, staggering from the ground and rubbing his chin. He didn't take Naruto punch well, and felt embarrassed that he was able to hit him. Iruka moved protectively in front of Naruto.

"You will not harm him, Mizuki, not while I'm here."

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei." Iruka looked back at Naruto and smiled at him. This was the distraction Mizuki needed to launch his counter-attack. Neither were quick enough to dodge or block as Mizuki stabbed Iruka in the chest with a kunai. The traitor-turner-murderer leapt back as Iruka fell backwards. Before he hit the ground, Naruto caught him and gently set him on the ground, blood gushed out of his body as Naruto removed the kunai to bandage the wound. Kurenai had thought him how to bandage a wound but this was too much for Naruto. Lying in front of him might be the only adult who had voluntarily accepted him other than Kurenai, and he was dying, it was too much for Naruto and then he snapped.

Mizuki stood in front of them as he saw Naruto's back stiffen. Red chakra started to pool around Naruto as he stood up, his tears fell from his eyes, but evaporated from the intense heat radiating from the chakra. Mizuki was cowering in fear from all of the demonic chakra coming from Naruto. Naruto turned his head , piercing Mizuki with his eyes. The swirl pattern had returned as did the green color with a hint of crimson laced throughout the swirl. The whisker marks on his face deepened and grew bolder and fangs sprouted from his lips, his nails grew as well, turning into claws. Naruto glared at Mizuki with newfound hatred.

"How dare you hurt Iruka-sensei! I'LL KILL YOU!" Naruto said as his eyes started to swirl, hypnotizing his opponent, and before Mizuki could shake the effect of the eyes, Naruto was gone. Mizuki didn't even blink and yet Naruto disappeared without a trace. "What's wrong, can't find me?" A voice came behind Mizuki. He turned around but didn't see anyone. Then, a fist smashed itself onto Mizuki's face, again sending him flying, this time into, and through, a rather large tree, landing roughly on the now felled log and stump.

Mizuki got up, body aching everywhere as he stood. Naruto remained still and passive as Mizuki stumbled back into the clearing.

"I'm not done…" Was all Naruto said before he made a modified ram seal and bellowed; "**Tajuu Kage Bushin no Jutsu!**" Thousands of Naruto clones appeared after the giant smoke cleared, each one as angry as the one before it. Without warning, they all charged Mizuki and attacked from all sides. Mizuki was too surprised and beaten for a counter-attack but even then he knew he wouldn't have stood a chance against all the clones.

The moment that Mizuki hit the ground, very much unconscious, Naruto ran to check on Iruka. Heaving a sigh of relief as he felt a pulse at Iruka's neck, but it was slowly fading away. Naruto didn't know what to do until an idea popped into his head.

The second jutsu he learned was used for these kinds of occasions. It required a certain set of hand seals and when activated, the user placed their hands over the wounded area, then a small orange barrier would appear around the wounded area and heal it. The only draw back, it took an insane amount of chakra to use it, mostly likely killing the user from chakra exhaustion before he or she would be able to finish the job.

But Naruto didn't care, as long as Iruka survived, he didn't care about the consequences. He did the hand seals and placed his hands over Iruka's chest. The orange barrier appeared and Naruto saw Iruka's wounds start to heal. Naruto could feel his chakra reserves empty and he suddenly felt exhausted and just as the darkness was about over come him he saw red chakra move around him and felt his reserves refill. The next thing he noticed was the orange barrier suddenly darker, more red, and Iruka's wound healed faster. He was surprised at first but figured it was the demon inside him.

Iruka awoke to see Naruto over him with a red orange barrier over his chest. Naruto noticed that Iruka woke up and canceled the jutsu. He had done enough, now it was Iruka's turn to finish the healing by resting.

"I-It's ok Iruka-sensei, Mizuki is unconscious and I sent a bushin to call for help. Just rest for now." Naruto said. Iruka smiled and told Naruto to close his eyes. Naruto hesitated at first but did it anyways, he knew that he could trust Iruka. Then he felt something wrap around his head. He heard Iruka tell him to open his eyes and when he did, he saw that Iruka didn't have his hitai-ite (headband) on. Naruto felt his forehead and felt the cold metal place and the warm cloth now tied to his forhead. He smiled a genuine smile as he hugged Iruka and was softly hugged him with one arm as he smiled as well.

"Congradulations Naruto, you're a ninja now." Iruka said. Soon, ANBU arrived and placed Iruka and Mizuki on a stretcher and Naruto followed them back to the village.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto is sitting in the seat he sat in yesterday, waiting for class to start. After what happened yesterday, he knew he had to be braver, more confident, but every time he passed by someone, he was too afraid to greet him or her. He knew he had to be a better person but that was proving to be hard. He was the first person in the class; he was just so excited to stay home.

Naruto watched some of his classmates enter the room. Some he didn't really know and some he somewhat recognized; there was the boy with the red triangles on his face. He had his dog, which Naruto didn't understand how they let him bring the dog to school. Then there was Shino, a boy like Naruto, smart, quiet and not much for socializing, Naruto had nothing against the boy and the boy didn't have anything against him. They both had a mutual understanding and always nodded their heads when they saw each other. More kids he didn't recognize or talked to entered the classroom.

Then he felt two small arms wrap around his neck, pulling him into a hug, he turned his head and saw indigo hair and guessed it was Hinata. The same feeling in his stomach started acting up again and he felt his blood start rushing to his head..

"H-Hey there H-Hinata." Naruto said nervously. Hinata let Naruto go and sat in her seat.

"Hi Naruto-kun, I heard that you failed." Hinata asked.

Naruto nodded his head, "I did fail, but something happened last night which made me pass." He said, amazed that he didn't stutter, maybe he was changing.

"Well… What happened?" Hinata asked curiously. Naruto looked at his desk and thought back on the events that occurred yesterday.

"Nothing, I just proved that I was good enough to be a ninja." Naruto answered vaguely. Hinata knew that he wasn't going to say more about it and she decided to change the subject.

"Who do you think will be in teams?" She asked. Naruto looked thoughtful about it, he honestly wanted to have Hinata on his team, other than her, he didn't really care as long as it wasn't Sasuke.

"I'm not sure… But I think we'll find out soon." Naruto said, continuing to scan the new arrivals, seeing Sasuke enter the room and met his eyes for the first time. Sasuke, was surprised, but quickly hid it, he was sure the tea would make the idiot fail like Mizuki had said. Sasuke just grunted and went to his seat, ignoring the blonde thorn in his side, cursing his teacher for not being up to the Uchiha standard of greatness. Minutes later, two girls charged into the room, fighting for the seat next to Sasuke, the pink haired one of the stopped once she saw Naruto sitting with Hinata still latched around his neck, thinking quickly, she decided that it would make Sasuke like her more than her rival if she were to insult the boy.

"Why are you here Naruto-no-baka, weren't you the only one who failed?" Sakura sneered smugly, Naruto looked down, crest fallen.

"I-I'm here because I'm a n-ninja too. I know I-I failed but I ended up p-passing a-any ways." Naruto replied timidly. '_So much for changing_.' He thought. Sakura just scoffed and started to walk away.

"I bet it was a fluke. No way you're talented enough to be a ninja, not like Sasuke-kun." She said, still sneering as she turned, prepared to win Sasuke's heart.

"But it wasn't a fluke. I really tried." Naruto said, more to himself than anyone else, hoping no one heard but Hinata was close enough to hear it.

"Hey, forehead!" Hinata yelled. Sakura stopped in her tracks and faced Hinata.

"What did you say?" Sakura said, the room had gone totally quiet.

"Naruto is talented enough to be a ninja. In fact, he's even better than your 'precious Sasuke-kun.' He doesn't have anything to prove to you, so back off!" Hinata yelled. Sakura took a step back; no one has ever gotten Hinata this mad before, sure, she was only mean to Sasuke but she never snapped at anyone. This was unprecedented and she was too shocked to retort.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was more than ready to prove that he, and by association the Uchiha, were the best. Sasuke suddenly appeared behind Naruto in a blur of motion, extremely fast for a new genin and had a kunai up to his throat.

"You're saying he is better than me? This moron can't even defend himself." Sasuke snarled at the Hyuuga heiress. However, it was during this moment of distraction, Naruto, moving faster than Sasuke just had, blurred out of existence and suddenly appeared next to a smiling Hinata.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." She said as she rested her elbow on Naruto's shoulder and leaned on him, while Naruto just stood there nonchalantly.

"Let's settle down, we don't want to start something we can't finish." Shino said, playing the peacemaker from where he was sitting, just a few seats away.

"Yeah, let's calm down. I personally don't want to get in trouble the day after I graduated, do you?" Kiba asked hoping to calm everyone down, a little out of his depth in trying to calm his classmates down, he was usually the one causing trouble.

'_Damn, he's faster than I thought_.' Sasuke thought as he grunted again and returned to his seat, Sakura and Ino following him, still praising his skill.

Elsewhere, The Hokage had the jounin instructors in his office as they discussed potential teams. They had witnessed the little performance Naruto and Sasuke put on through the Hokage's crystal ball and the jounins were impressed by Naruto's speed and intelligence.

"So, who will you take Kakashi?" The Third asked.

Kakashi had been thinking about it since yesterday. He wanted to take Sasuke to help him train the Sharingan, he also wanted Naruto but after the little show they had, he wasn't so sure.

"I'll take the Uchiha, I don't really care about who else." He said, and then turned to the orange book Kurenai bought him last week. Their deal lasted until Naruto became a ninja, and Kakashi made Kurenai buy him at least one last book.

"Ok, we'll come back to you. What about you Kurenai."

"I want Uzumaki Naruto." She said without hesitating.

"And who else?" The Hokage asked, smiling, he, and everyone else knew that she would take the boy. Kurenai sat back in her chair and thought about it; Hinata was a definite one since she seems to help bring Naruto out of his shel, her third choice was going to be harder. Her choices were Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, Aburame Shino, or Inuzuka Kiba. He couldn't choose Shikamaru or Choji since Asuma told her he would take them and Ino to form the new Ino-Shika-Cho team. That only left Kiba and Shino, and both boys seem to be neutral with Naruto. She looked at the expecting face of the Hokage and just said the first name she thought of.

"Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino." She said, surprising the other jounin with her coices.

"Interesting choices." The Third Hokage said as Iruka wrote down the new team 8.

"What about you Asuma?" Asuma put out his cigarette and faced his father.

"Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka." Asuma said casually, and Iruka recorded the new team.

"Okay Kakashi that leaves you with: Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Inuzuka Kiba." The Third Hokage said, Kakashi nodded, his eye never leaving the book. Kurenai sighed at his actions and wondered why she even bothered scolding him about reading the book all of the time. "Iruka-san, go announce the new teams. As for you three; go to the academy with Iruka-san to meet your new teams. Dismissed."

Everyone stood and started leaving the room, everyone except Kakashi that is.

"Aren't you going to meet your new team?" The Third Hokage asked, his eyebrow arched underneath his hat, Kakashi, finally, looked up from his book but shrugged his shoulders before looking back at his book.

"Maybe after I finish this chapter."

[*.*.*.*]

Back in the classroom, Iruka appeared in the classroom in a swirl of leaves in, and everyone grew silent, he had never done that before.

"Alright settle down, all of you. I have the teams and after I announce them, you'll meet your jounin instructor. Now first up team 1…" After Iruka named the first six teams, it was finally team 7's turn.

"Team 7: Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Inuzuka Kiba..." Both Hinata and Naruto let out a sigh of relief, they didn't want to be with those two and they still have a chance to be on the same team. Sakura silently celebrated having Sasuke on her team, Sasuke just thought a team would slow him down and Kiba wanted to have Hinata on his team instead of the banshee.

"Team 8: Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto..." Hinata immediately hugged Naruto, causing the feeling and a small blush to appear.

"You hear that Naruto-kun, we get to be on the same team, isn't that great?" Hinata asked. Naruto nodded his head.

"Yeah, it really is." He said is he looked at Shino. Shino nodded his head and Naruto nodded back.

"Team 10: Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji and Yamanaka Ino." Ino immediately didn't like the team, even though she sort of knew them through her father, she wanted to be with Sasuke.

"Troublesome." Was all Shikamaru said before he fell asleep and Choji… well, he continued eating his bag of chips.

"Now, your jounin instructor will pick you up and take you someplace else to introduce yourselves." Iruka then vanished in another swirl of leaves and then jounin started arriving and picking up their teams. Everyone was out of the rrom except Team 7 and 8. Naruto nervously fidgeted in his seat as he waited for his jounin. He wondered who he got.

The door then opened and a jounin walked in.

"Sorry I'm late, my friend over here wanted to be late but I brought him here just in time for you." Kurenai walked into the room, dragging an unconscious Kakashi by the collar. She unceremoniously dropped him by the door and looked over her team. "Hey there Naruto…" Naruto immediately jumped from his seat and hugged her. Hinata looked on, somewhat jealous, Naruto had never hugged her like that, Shino, as passive as ever, just stood to greet his new teacher.

"OK, meet me at the training grounds in ten minutes." She said.

"Which one?" Hinata asked. Kurenai smirked and made a hand seal.

"You got ten minutes to figure it out." She was about to leave when Sakura stood up.

"What about us!?" She half yelled, half demanded. Kurenai knew instantly that she didn't like her this potential genin.

"He'll wake up… eventually." She answered and then disappeared. Naruto looked at his new teammates and shrugged; the three of them leaving an irate girl shouting at the unconscious jounin while her timeates sat on opposites side of the room from each other.

"Come on, I know what training grounds she's talking about." Naruto said once they were in the hall. They arrived to the training grounds five minutes later and saw Kurenai sitting on a stump.

"I'd like to say I'm surprised at your tracking skills but I know Naruto already knew this place." Naruto blushed a little and shrugged it off. "I want you three to sit down right here and introduce yourselves. It's not so much for me as for you three to get to know each other. You know, your name, likes, dislikes, dreams and hobbies."

"Usually, one introduce oneself before one asks others to. Why don't you give us an example of what we have to do?" Shino said. Naruto and Hinata stared at Shino; that was the longest thing they heard him say, which in retrospect is pretty sad.

"Okay." Kurenai cleared her throat and tried to remember what the other jounins said to say if their students said something like that. "I'm Yuhi Kurenai. Things I like and things I hate...I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future...never really thought about it. As for my hobbies...I have lots of hobbies." Team 8 sweat dropped ather answer. Kurenai just smiled innocently and pointed at Shino. "Ok, I held up my end of the bargain, now it's your turn."

"My name is Aburame Shino. I like insects and I hate it when people just crush them for no reason. I have no dreams and I like to study insects with my family."

"Good, now you Naruto." Kurnenai said, gesturing at the boy. Naruto gulped and cleared his throat before speaking.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen and training. I don't necessarily hate but I dislike it when people pick on each other. My dream is to become strong and respected like the Fourth Hokage was, and my hobbies are training and..." Naruto didn't finish; he didn't really want to say it.

"And...?" Kurenai said, coaxing him.

"And gardening..." Naruto said quietly as if in shame.

"Really? Me too. We should garden together sometime." Hinata offered. Her father gave her a small garden in the back yard and she kept it in the best condition anyone's ever seen.

"I'd like that." Naruto replied.

"Ok, now you." Kurenai said pointing to Hinata. Hinata just nodded as she sat up straight, happy to share with her new team.

"My name's Hyuuga Hinata. I like my friends and my family. I hate stuck up people who don't know how to take the stick out of their butt." Kurenai looked a little surprised at that particular phrase coming out of the heiress of a very high clan's mouth while Naruto snickered. "My dream for the future is to be a competent kunoichi and have a loving husband and family." She looked at Naruto at the corner of her eye and saw him blush. She didn't completely understand why he did but she had an idea. She giggled before she finished the introduction. "As for my hobbies, like Naruto, I like to garden and sometimes make medicine and herbs."

Kurenai nodded as she registered the information. So far she got a bug collector with a logical mind, a competent boy with a low self esteem and a girl with backbone, confidence and heart. In her mind, she chose the right kids to form the right team.

"Ok, now that that's over, let me tell you about the test you'll take tomorrow..." Kurenai said.

"Test?" Naruto asked.

"We already took a test, that's why we're here." Hinata said, puzzled.

"That test was to see who has a chance to be a genin. I am the one who decides of you become one... or go back to the academy." She stood up and started walking away.

"Be here tomorrow by six a.m. and by the way..." She stopped to look at her team. "I wouldn't eat anything, you'd probably just throw it up anyways." She smiled with her eyes closed and suddenly disappeared. Naruto gulped at her words, Hinata shrugged it off and Shino, as always, just remained passive.

"Come on let's go eat something, as a team." Hinata suggested as she stood and stretched, Shino didn't say anything but stood up, Naruto stood up too and smiled.

"Sure, but what will we get?" The blonde asked.

"Not sure, anyone want anything specifically?" Hinata questioned. Shino shurgged and Naruto was thinking about it.

"Well, h-how about ramen?" He asked quietly. He really liked ramen by now but it seemed like not many people did, which he thought was odd.

"You got a problem with it Shino?" Hinata asked Shino. Again, he just shrugged his shoulders. "Ramen it is, lead the way Naruto." Naruto nodded and started walking to Ichiraku's with Shino and Hinata following behind him. They were only a block away when they bumped into team 7. Naruto of course backed up a little, putting as much distance from Sasuke as he could without running.

"Uchiha." Hinata said coolly, not hiding her distaste for the boy.

"Hyuuga." Sasuke replied, just as icy, glaring at both her and Naruto in utter hatred.

"Hinata!" Kiba shouted, breaking the tense moment. Hinata sweat dropped but forced a smile to come to her face.

"Hey Kiba." She replied, again forcing herself to seem happy.

Kiba went straight for Hinata and they both started talking, ignoring both Sasuke and Sakura. Shino and Naruto just stood behind Hinata while Sasuke and Sakura stood behind Kiba, the four remaining quiet. Kiba kept on flirting with Hinata, saying this and that, touching her arm lightly, which Naruto didn't particularly like. Hinata just ignored his flirting, she only saw Kiba as a friend.

"Hey, you finally ready to quit being a ninja?" Sasuke asked Naruto, deciding that just glaring at Naruto was a waste of his time.

"N-No, I am a ninja and..." Naruto started but Hinata helped him out, she was getting tired of Kiba's constant flirting anyways.

"You better deal with it!" She said. Sasuke grunted then Sakura stepped in front of him.

"Don't talk to Sasuke like that!" She yelled.

"Why? Are you afraid I'll shatter his ego? Please, it's just a waste of time." Hinata said indifferently.

"What did you say?" Sakura retorted back.

"You heard or did you're big forehead get in the way?!" Hinata yelled. Sakura backed a fist back to knock Hinata off her high horse but before she could throw the punch, Naruto caught it.

"I-I believe..." Naruto said a bit timidly. "That that's not the wisest course of action to take." Naruto said somewhat grimly. Sakura saw the seriousness in his voice and eyes.

_'I-Is this really Naruto?'_ Naruto let her arm go, seeing as she wasn't going to do anything. Then a hand sprang out and grasped Naruto's hand.

"Don't touch my teammate like that." Sasuke said, his voice as grim as Naruto's had been. Naruto flinched, taking a step back from the angry Uchiha survivor. Naruto stopped after the first step and stood his ground. Though he was shaking internally, he tried desperately not to show it externally. Sasuke saw the fear in his eyes and smirked.

A small voice in Naruto head was screaming at him.

_**'Attack the little Uchih**_**_a. He not only threatened you but your mate. Are you willing to stand by as he destroys your mate? Do something lethal!'_** The small voice held thousands of years of anger and hatred, something Naruto had guess was Kyuubi. Even though he heard the voice, a louder voice yelled in his head.

_'Don't! There's no point in fighting. He won't destroy Hinata or you so don't start something. When he lets go, just walk away with your team.'_ This voice confused Naruto. He agreed with the voice but also wanted to do what the other voice wanted to do. In the end, he followed the louder voice's advice after Sasuke let go.

"Back off Uchiha!" Hinata yelled. She hated the way not only Sasuke but the whole village stare at Naruto with hate and malice. The fact the he was only a foot away was not helping either.

"Hmm, seems like losers have to stick together. If not them, then who will?"

"Yeah!" Sakura stuck her tongue out at team 8. Kiba just chuckled. Hinata gave him a death glare which stopped his enjoyment. Sasuke just glared at Naruto only to be shocked. Naruto's eyes changed from blue to a red green like color then back to blue. Sasuke shook his head and just walked away. Sakura, of course, followed after him and Kiba knew he wasn't welcomed with team 8 anymore so he went with his team.

"Come on, let's eat!" Hinata said cheerfully as if the past event didn't happened. Naruto nodded and team 8 walked into Ichiraku's to eat their lunch. In the distance, a lone figure watched as team 8 entered the ramen shop. His eyes attracted to the blond in black, white and blue clothing. Its green eyes were spinning as his doujutsu watched in interest.

"One day, you'll find out who you really are. And when that day comes, I'll be there but for now..." The lone figure disappeared in a swirl of leaves. His voice a whisper in the wind. "There's a test you'll need to pass."

* * *

**Like it? Hope you did cuz a lot of work has been put into this!**

**Well, see ya and good luck with whatever!  
**


	4. A New Challenge Awaits!

**Chapter 4 people! It's awesome and I finally updated for this story...**

**I know it's been awhile but I had some other things to deal with and besides that, I'm trying not to make the same mistakes I made with Naruto of the Immortal Clan... It's an awesome story _[which you should check out sometime...]_ but I also made a few mistakes that I wished I could fix but it's too late now...**

**On a side note, I got this review where it says I ruined the story by making it a Naruhina pairing... Yeah, the nerve of him/her right? He/she said because of the pairing, it's going to make story harder for me to make believable...**

**Wanna know what I think? I think that I don't really give a s#!t! I love Naruhina! I'm a die-hard fan and will never not love it! It is _[in my opinion...] _the best pairing ever and I support it ****100%****... You may think it makes the story less believable? You say I ruined my story?! Well guess what, I will make the story believable because since it is AU, I can make it so that the logic will make sense and will make you believe! And this will be a great story because I know that with the help of my BEAT reader, it will be great! SO shove your negative reviews somewhere else because this will be a great story and I will not back down!  
**

**Anyways, please enjoy chapter 4 and leave me a review telling me what you think of it... **

**Chapter 4: A New Challenge Awaits!  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, but I do own his doujutsu!!!  
**

* * *

"See ya later Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled as she entered her house, leaving Naruto in shock. After team 8 finished eating their ramen, Hinata had asked Naruto if he could walk her to her home. After saying their goodbyes to Shino, they walked to the Hyuuga mansion. On their way there, Hinata was asking Naruto what he thought the test would be on. After a couple of guesses and laughs, they finally reached Hinata's house. In a last minute act, Hinata kissed Naruto in the cheek and ran into her home.

Naruto shook it off and thought about what this meant.

_'This could mean that she likes me... But I don't think so. She was probably thanking me, that's all. I shouldn't make too much of it.'_ Naruto placed his right hand over his heart. _'So why do I feel this pain.'_

Naruto turned his head to the direction of the forest. He could've sworn that he saw someone out of the corner of his eye. He kept walking home, hoping to take a long shower and head for bed. Suddenly, Naruto's eyes turned green and a swirl was seen extending out from the pupil, stopping at the sclera. He looked around and wondered how his doujutsu was activated without his consent. As he looked around, he saw that everything has stopped moving; people, bugs, even birds and leaves in the air. The just hung in the air, unmoving and floating.

Naruto didn't know what was happening but he was going to find out. He jumped to the roof of a nearby building and started looking for something suspicious. It didn't take him long to see something because what he saw baffled him.

He saw a green dome like thing surrounding him with a radius of about fifty feet. Naruto's seen this before, it's something he could do but not this big. The biggest he could create was with a radius of about ten feet.

"So you noticed." A voice said behind Naruto. He turned around and saw a dirty blond haired man with a cloak covering his body. His face was rough and passive. He smiled when he saw Naruto's doujutsu active.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, warily of the new stranger. The stranger's smile never faded.

"So you activated the Jikokugan have you? That's quite impressive for someone so young and inexperienced with it." The stranger said, shocking Naruto.

"J-Jikokugan?" The stranger's smile faded and he tilted his head.

"You mean you didn't know? The Jikokugan is called the 'Time Eye'. It's a very rare doujutsu, only found in members of a certain clan. Do you know which clan?" Naruto shook his head, angering the stranger.

"Those old fools didn't tell you of your origin? Bastards. At any rate, you, Uzumaki Naruto belong to a very elite clan, one that deals assassinations and infiltrations missions. This eye of ours let's us control time, even if it is for a couple of seconds to a couple of hours. The key is to be able to have perfect chakra control." Naruto was registering everything the man just told him, he just didn't believe it.

"I-I'm part of a clan? Which one? And how is this clan able to control time with our eyes?" Naruto asked, wanting to get all the answers. The stranger sighed before answering.

"Yes, you are part of a clan, I thought I told you and I can't answer the second question since no one told you yet and my brother would probably kill me. As for how our clan is able to control time, there is a myth to how we attained our doujutsu. It is said that a mysterious woman ran into one of our ancestors. She was running away from a mob that was, for some reason, after her. Our ancestor graciously offered her a place to hide within his home. After the mob was gone, they both got acquainted with each other. A week later, she was about to leave but our ancestor stopped her, telling her he had fallen in love with this woman.

"The woman did not know what to do, she was a wanderer and could not stay in one place for too long, but stayed with him. A mere year later, the cries of a baby were heard as our ancestor held his and the mysterious woman's child. The mysterious woman fled after giving birth to the child, leaving our ancestor alone with a green-eyed infant. From then on, some generations have gained what we have dubbed the Jikokugan; some have even reached new levels of it. But now, only two remain on this Earth that possess this power. Me... and you."

"B-But... what happened to the rest of the clan?"

"Time is a powerful thing, and to control it even more so, thus people were afraid of the power. Many feared that we would use our doujutsu to take control of the world, though we could have done that, we had no desire to attain so much power. One day, the five Kages held a meeting in secret to decide the fate of the Jikokugan and our clan. Some wished to place a seal on us, much like the seal that the Hyuuga's place on the members of the Branch family. Others still wanted to make us loyal to them, which we would never do. Finally, deciding to end the arguments, one made the argument to eliminate us for the greater good of the people. These Kages, in their great wisdom, agreed. The next night, The Kages sent their hunter nins to eliminate every single member, from children to the elderly, everyone was slaughtered, no one was spared."

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was too much to take in and he didn't know how much of it to believe.

"If that's true, then how do we still have the Jikokugan?"

"Because after the mysterious woman gave birth to her first child, she had our ancestor's second child in her, though she didn't find out until her stomach started to show."

"W-Wait, that still doesn't explain how we control time."

The older man sighed again. "That isn't really something you should be concerning yourself with, no one really knows, not even I. What you should focus on is getting stronger for the challenges you'll face in a couple of years. You will face a very distant relative and this will determine the fate of all who are close to you, is they live or if they die. You have to get stronger, you have to get better... but only if you want to save those close to you." The man warned.

Even though Naruto may not have understood everything that the man had told him, he would not be counted a fool for not taking his advice; he just wished that his life wasn't so complicated.

"You're going need this if you want to master the Jikokugan..." the man threw an old looking scroll at Naruto, who caught it and looked at it curiously. He looked up to ask the man another question but he was gone and so was the dome. He looked around but still saw no sign of the man.

He brought his attention back on the scroll in his hands and placed it in his pockets and headed home, replaying the words the man told him again and again.

The man looked on from a distance and smiled.

"Good luck Naruto, you're going to need it."

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto headed for the designated training ground, still a little nervous. Kurenai once warned him of the test new genin are given to prove they're good enough to be called ninjas. She didn't go into detail or exactly how to pass, just to be careful. Now he wished she had explained what they needed to do exactly. He sighed as he saw he was the first one there, he dared not do anything strenuous as it might sap valuable energy from him before this mysterious test. Meditation to calm his nerves proved to be the only logical choice.

Deep in his subconscious, Naruto awoke in a sewer like place, water flooded the halls and reached up to his shins. Naruto looked around the halls into various rooms. One room had a memory of when he was being beaten and losing consciousness. It replayed from the beginning and repeated again when it was over. It kept playing over and over and Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He looked away and saw in another room the time when he went to a store and was sold spoiled food and over charged for it. He continued passing most of the rooms as most of them had bad memories that he wanted to forget.

Only a couple of rooms held happy memories, one was when he first met Hinata.

**[*.*.Flashback.*.*]**

**Hinata was sleeping during one of Iruka's long lectures and he noticed her drooling over her textbook. He looked up to make sure Iruka wasn't paying any attention to him. When he was sure, he poked Hinata to try to wake her up. She stirred for a moment before going back to sleep. He poked her a little harder and she stirred but did not awaken.**

**Out of ideas, Naruto tried one more thing and he hoped it wouldn't upset her. She started rubbing Hinata's ribs with the tips of his fingers. Hinata smiled and started to giggle. She was starting to wake up but he needed to tickle her more if he wanted her to wake up, so that's what he did. She then burst out laughing, filling the room with her laugh.**

**Naruto stopped and got a dark shade of red on his face. He didn't really want to stop but he kind of went over board with the tickling. Hinata's laugh started to die down and she looked at Naruto, a small smile on her face until she remembered what she did. She looked at Iruka who had his eyebrow cocked while he looked at her and Naruto.**

**"Since you two don't seem to be paying attention, it seems a punishment is in order. You both will stay after school and clean this classroom until it's spotless." Iruka told them, making Hinata pout and making Naruto feel bad about getting Hinata in trouble.**

**After class, Naruto was sadly sweeping and Hinata went into the classroom closet to get something to clean the windows. While she was in there, Naruto was internally debating whether or not to apologize. She came out and he decided to apologize, at least to let her know he didn't mean to get her in trouble. Though he knew she probably would get mad at him and yell at him, that's what everyone did so why not her?**

**"H-Hinata..." Hinata stopped walking and looked at him curiously. She'd never heard him say anything, well much anyways. It was interesting to see what got him to speak.**

**"Yes?" She answered. Naruto gulped loudly and rubbed the back of his head, though because he was nervous, he let go of the broom and it fell down. When the sound of the broom hitting the floor filled the room, Naruto almost jumped out of his skin. Hinata giggled and cleared her throat, not wanting to hurt his feelings.**

**"W-Well, I wanted t-to apologize for making y-you stay after school." Naruto apologized, Hinata tilted her head and looked at him, causing him to blush. He didn't really understand why she made him feel this way but it wasn't like he didn't like it.**

**"It's ok, I had to do some boring family stuff when I got home and this isn't nearly as boring. By the way, why did you tickle me?" She asked, putting the cloth and spray on the nearest table. Naruto continued to rub his head.**

**"W-Well... I didn't want y-you to get in trouble with Iruka-sensei... b-but it looked like t-that failed." Naruto said sheepishly. Hinata covered her mouth and giggled.**

**"I appreciate the help, but next time, try something else." Hinata told him as she closed her eyes and smiled. Naruto nodded his head and Hinata picked up the cloth and spray.**

**"A-Actually... it's ok, I can clean this b-by myself. You can go h-home if you want." Naruto said, walking over to take the stuff from Hinata's hands. Hinata backed up and put the stuff behind her back.**

**"Don't worry about it. I already told you if I go home I'll just do some boring stuff. You did me a favor so I'll return it." Hinata said. **

**"B-But it's not like it's your fault, it's mine. It's my fault you're here..." Naruto was about to continue but she cut him off by placing her finger on his lips.**

**"Come on, I told you it's ok. If you want to make it up to me you can let me help clean the room and when we're done, you could treat me to some food. You know, between friends." Hinata told him. Naruto's blush returned and he nodded dumbly. Hinata nodded back.**

**"Great, so hurry up because I'm starving." Hinata turned around and blushed. Naruto didn't see her blush but he never stopped looking at her. He shook his thoughts out of his head and continued sweeping the room.**

**[*.*.Flashback End.*.*]**

Naruto outwardly smiled and felt someone poke him. He opened an eye and saw a worried looking Kurenai, a curious Hinata who was looking over Kurenai's shoulder and the ever-passive Shino stood next to his female teammate. He looked at his team, one after the other.

"Um... Hi." Naruto said, Kurenai sighed and Hinata smiled.

"What were you doing Naruto? You looked dead and you weren't even breathing for a while." Kurenai asked. Naruto looked at her for a while until he shrugged, Kurenai stood straight and looked at her new and first genin team. She was informed she could give them the old bell test, the standard test and one that she had taken herself when she was a fresh genin, but she didn't like that idea. She requested if she could do something new, and after some negotiating the Third Hokage agreed. She smiled at her test and hoped it would work.

"Anyways, now that we're all here, how about we start our test?" and without waiting for an answer from her new subordinates, continued.

"Good, follow me." Kurenai commanded as she walked deeper into the forest. Naruto followed after her with Hinata and Shino falling into step behind him. They walked for about five minutes before Kurenai stopped. Everyone stopped as well and looked at their sensei.

"Ok, this is good enough. Now, the test will actually be a simple one. All you three have to do is get a simple package and scroll from a market five miles west from here. You tell them that you have come to pick it up for me, Yuhi Kurenai, they'll give it to you and you'll go back to the designated training spot. The catch; there is a time limit. You'll have to get the package and return it to me before noon, which is in about six hours so get to it!"

There was a brief pause before the three of them, Naruto, Hinata, and Shino leapt into action, running through the forest to get to the market in time.

"Naruto-kun, do you know where you're going?" Hinata asked. Naruto nodded and they continued to run. After running for about four miles, they decided to take a water break. They stopped at a small waterfall; that water was clean and actually looked cleaner then the water that comes out of Naruto's sink. Naruto and Shino cupped some water in their hands and drank.

Hinata, on the other hand, dunked her whole head into the water, not really caring about her long hair getting wet. After Hinata got her fill, She lifted her head out of the water and shook her head, trying to take out as much water as she could out of her head.

Naruto couldn't stop looking at her; she looked completely cute while he shook her head. Some water splashed into his face and he snapped out of it, ducking his head, he looked at Shino and he had his eyebrow raised as he looked at Naruto. Naruto blushed from embarrassment; he was caught starring at Hinata. He knew Shino wouldn't make fun of him but that didn't necessarily mean he wanted to him to see every embarrassing moment.

Naruto stood and walked under a nearby tree, away from the rest of his team, he leaned against it and looked on as Hinata once again dunked her entire head into the water. Shino had gotten his fill in water and stood under the shade of a tree next to Naruto. Naruto just couldn't stop looking at Hinata, there was just something about her that got Naruto's attention. She was nice, sincere and all around perfect. Yeah her vocabulary and attitude was very strange for someone with her heritage but Naruto didn't care.

He looked to his left and saw Shino also leaning against the tree, though Naruto couldn't tell if he was asleep or just thinking. Either way, he wasn't about to find out because Hinata was walking towards them.

"Everyone good?" She asked. Shino nodded his head.

"Yeah, I-I'm good." Naruto answered. Hinata looked up and looked at the position the sun was in.

"It seems like we have a little less than four hours to get the scroll back. At this rate, we'll pass her little test in no time." Hinata said confidently. Naruto nodded and he, with Shino, followed after Hinata who started running again.

When they finally arrived to the small market, they all inwardly cheered and entered it. In the shop, they saw all kinds of things; from ninja weapons to empty scroll, sake and other essentials. Naruto, for some reason being the unspoken leader, walked up to the counter. There was an old man sitting behind it. He had a gray beard and hair with ragged clothes on and had a small eye patch on his left eye. He looked at Naruto and smiled.

"Hello there," said the elderly man, his voice gravely from years of smoking "What can I do for you?"

"Well, we came to pick up a package for our sensei, her name's Yuhi Kurenai." Naruto meekly told the elderly man. The elderly man's smiled never wavered as he stood.

"Of course of course. Wait there while I go look for it." Naruto nodded and watched as the old man went to get the package. They waited for about five minutes before the old man returned with a small box with a small scroll tied to the side. There was a sticker on top of the box with Kurenai's name and basic living information.

"Thank you." Naruto told the old man while he grabbed the box but the old man didn't let go.

"Let me warn you youngster, this is a very important package that should be delivered to Yuhi-san right away. No distractions, no peeking. Just take it, hand it to her, and that's it." The old man let go of the box and Naruto took it off the counter. The old man smiled and waved.

"Now move along, bandits might come and take this away from you." The old man told them calmly. Hinata raised an eyebrow.

"But what about you? What if they still think you have it?" She asked.

"Don't worry, I have Akio if I have any problems." A big man about six feet tall, twenty-five years old entered the room and had the body of a brick wall. He looked at team Kurenai before bowing to the old man.

"You called father?" Akio asked. The old man shook his head.

"No I didn't but since your here, how about getting your father a nice cup of tea?" Akio nodded and left the room. The old man looked at team Kurenai and waved his hand.

"Now go..." He said and with that, team Kurenai left the small shop. When the old man was sure they were out of earshot, he sighed and wiped a sweat forming in his forehead.

"I thought they'd never leave." Two shadows jumped down from the ceiling and bowed before the old man. "Good, let's go before we lose them. Remember, we're not trying to kill them, just to scare them enough to drop the package and run for the hills. You got that?" One of the shadows nodded excitedly and the other just puffed his cigarette and nodded. The old man coughed and fanned the space in front of him.

"If you keep smoking that cheap crap while I'm around, I might not make it to be this old." The old man said as he and the shadows disappeared.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto stopped after running for a mile, stopping at the same clearing they were in when they got a drink of water. His teammates jumped down right behind him, wondering why he stopped. Naruto was looking around at the trees that surrounded the clearing. He activated the Jikokugan and created a dome around him and his teammates. He turned around and saw seven shuriken right behind him, aiming at Hinata and Shino. Naruto grabbed the seven shuriken and threw them back in the direction they came from. He heard rustling coming from the tree and five shadows jumping off the trees.

Most of the shadows wore a dark green cloak that had a hood that covered their faces. The leader, Naruto guessed, had a midnight blue cloak with his hood down, not bothering to conceal his rough face, a scar that ran down his left cheek and one horizontal one running through his chin. He was chewing on a toothpick and had light brown eyes. He smiled haughtily as he looked Naruto up and down.

"So you're one of the last survivors huh? You don't look so tough, in fact..." the man said as he took a step closer to team Kurenai. He was looking at Hinata's frozen form with interest. "The girl looks stronger than you." Naruto faltered for a second before dropping into his stance.

"In a couple of years, she'll probably develop quite nicely. You know what, after we kill you and the other guy, we might just take the girl." The man said. Naruto's eye's widened and his heart quickened, they were threatening to take Hinata; the mere fact that he threatened to kill him didn't faze him, it was very common in his life…

But when this man threatened to take Hinata, Naruto had never been so scared in his life, He also felt...

Angry.

He felt anger and hatred for the man in front of him, more than he had ever felt for just one man. His eyes faded to a deep shade of red and he could feel fangs and claws growing while his whisker marks deepened.

He knew what was happening, the Kyuubi was probably trying to take over.

The Kyuubi had been trying to convince him that he should use his power. The other times he refused but in his current situation… it was tempting.

Then he remembered of his two teammates. What would they think about him if they see him being engulfed with evil and an enormous amount of chakra?

Naruto started to breathe deeply and calmed himself, forcing his fangs and claws to retract and his whiskers to thin slightly, but not totally, his eyes did not change, pure malice was held in them. Naruto removed the dome and looked at his teammates without turning his head.

"Hinata, Shino, before you freak out, listen to me..." Naruto said quietly so only his teammates could hear him, making Hinata and Shino turn around in surprise. To them, only a second passed and now Naruto was behind them and there were five other people in the clearing. Hinata probably would've asked about it but Naruto had beaten her from saying something.

"We need to get out of here and head for the village. These men are very dangerous and could very well kill us. The guy in the blue cloak and the two in the middle are about jounin level. The ones on the side are slightly above chuunin. If we stay and fight, we're dead for. On my mark, we run straight for the village, no stopping for any reason, got it?" Hinata and Shino nodded.

"Yo! What are you three nodding about?" The leader yelled, Naruto made some quick hand signs and ended at the horse sign.

_'Hope this works...' _He thought after taking a deep breath and placing his hand beside his mouth.

"Now! **Water Style: Raging Waves Jutsu!**" A stream of water came out of Naruto's mouth and engulfed the five ninjas. Hinata and Shino had jumped up to the trees and watched as more water spilled out of Naruto's mouth.

_'What are they still doing here?!'_ Naruto thought as he felt the jutsu ending. When it completely ended, he jumped to the trees and into his teammates.

"Come on, I thought I told you to run." Naruto said while he and his team headed for Konoha.

"Shino said we should've but I wanted to wait for you. You're part of this team and we won't leave you behind." Hinata said firmly.

"For me? Are you kidding? I'm not worth dying over; you could always have me replaced. I'm just a nobody!" Naruto shouted, Hinata and Shino looked at each other before looking at Naruto. They couldn't believe Naruto just called himself expendable. The jutsu he used to distract the five ninjas was incredibly difficult to learn and took up most of the user's chakra but Naruto didn't even break a sweat.

Before Hinata could say anything, the leader of the mysterious ninjas and the two Naruto had identified as jounin appeared up in front of them. They stopped two trees in front of them and warily watched the unknown men. Naruto jumped on a branch higher then the other ninjas and made one hand sign, taking his middle and index fingers on both hands and crossing them, bellowing:

"**Tajuu Kage Bushin no Jutsu!**" Over fifty Naruto surrounded the field and he started making more hand signs.

"**Henge!**" Suddenly, a third of the group were Hinatas, another third were Shinos and the last third were Naruto's. Then they all scattered, jumping from place to place and leaving the place in chaos. The three ninjas stabbed some of the clones, dispersing them and letting some of the smoke cloud their view. Team Kurenai moved around the three ninjas and the clones. They silently walked for a couple of minutes before completely sprinting and heading for Konoha.

"Naruto-kun, do you know who those guys are?" Hinata asked. Naruto shook his head.

"It appears that they are after the package and scroll we are supposed to deliver to Kurenai-sensei. That seems to be the only logical reason to be after us unless they are after one of us specifically." Shino stated. Hinata nodded and Naruto didn't do anything besides running and jumping from tree to tree.

"Well... I think... they're after me. I'm not sure exactly why but I seem to be their target." Naruto half-lied. It wasn't a complete lie but the truth wasn't entirely there either.

"Do you know why?" Hinata asked.

"This isn't the time to be talking about this." Naruto said but Hinata stopped running and crossed her arms over her chest. Shino and Naruto stopped as well. "Hinata, why'd you stop?"

"Tell me why they're after you or I'll wait here and ask them myself." Hinata threatened. Naruto sighed and grabbed Hinata by her left arm.

"Fine, but we need to keep going, I can run and explain at the same time." Hinata nodded and team Kurenai started running again.

"Ok, well... I didn't tell anyone this but I have a doujutsu." Naruto said hesitantly. Hinata's eyes widened and Shino just raised both eyebrows. "From what I've been told, it's called the Jikokugan, the 'Time Eye'. I can create a dome with a diameter of twenty feet and inside the dome, all time stops. Also, it has some sort of chakra reading ability that lets me tell how powerful someone is. It's very complicated and I'm still not good enough to use it to its full potential."

"I-I've never heard of the Jikokugan." Hinata said after getting over her initial shock.

"I'm not surprised. The clan that had the Jikokugan was annihilated long ago because the five Kages thought they would one day over power everyone. I'm not sure who they are but I think they're here to finish the job." Naruto said. He looked at Shino who was awfully quiet about this new piece of information. In fact, it was too quiet.

"Something's wrong." Naruto said. Before anyone had time to blink, a strong wind started blowing around them and they all flew into the air. Hinata grabbed Shino's arm and reached for Naruto's. Naruto reached back but the wind blew him back and deeper into the forest.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled as she and Shino were tossed in the opposite direction. The leader of the four mysterious ninjas jumped out of his hiding spot as his subordinates appeared in front of him.

"You four deal with the other two, I'll deal with the last Namikaze." The four ninjas nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. The leader inhaled loudly and body flickered to where Naruto was.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto slowly opened his eyes as he woke up. He groggily sat up and looked around. He couldn't remember ever sleeping earlier, especially in the forest. His eyes snapped open when he remembered the ambush. He jumped up and got into his stance. He carefully looked around for someone, waiting for something to happen.

"Relax, I'm only here to talk... for now." A voice echoed through the trees that surrounded Naruto. He spun on his heels and braced himself. The leader of the ninjas after him casually walked out from behind a tree and into the clearing.

"Who are you... and what do you want?" Naruto asked.

"I am Hiroshi and what I want is your death." Hiroshi said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What did I ever do to you? Are you mad at me because of the fox?" Naruto asked again. Hiroshi laughed at him.

"I don't care about the fox; he could rot in hell for all I care. No, I don't want you to die because of that, but for that special power you posses. The Jikokugan." The man answered, putting a little emphasis on Jikokugan.

"You see, long ago the five Kgaes had a meeting to annihilate your clan and the power of the Jikokugan. My grandfather and my father both left to accomplish this. During the annihilation, one of your clan members happened to see my father and killed him. My grandfather committed suicide days after the whole thing, leaving my mother alone while I lay in her womb." Hiroshi said, his anger rising with each passing word.

"I grew up fatherless for over forty years! And it's your stupid clan's entire fault! I was and at first, all the Jikokugan users were dead but then I found out that there was still a survivor left. You!" Hiroshi said angrily.

"I'm sorry that you grew up without a father, but it wasn't my fault that he died. I wasn't even born when all of this happened. You shouldn't blame me for this. You shouldn't even try to kill me, let alone my friends." Naruto told Hiroshi.

"It's too late for apologize. They won't bring my father back." Hiroshi said.

"Killing me and my friends won't bring him back either." Naruto said, hoping to convince Hiroshi but he just shook his head.

"But it will avenge him!" Hiroshi yelled as he started making some hand signs. "**Fire style: Dragon Flame Bomb Jutsu!**"

A giant blast of flame erupted from Hiroshi's mouth, heading straight for Naruto who was just able to complete a series of his own.

"**Water Style: Raging Waves Jutsu!**" A stream of water equal in size to the Hiroshi's jutsu met it in the middle, both jutsus canceling each other out sending steam to cover the clearing, blocking Hiroshi from Naruto's sight.

Naruto closed his eyes and put his other sense to work, trying to find Hiroshi. He snapped his eyes opened and jumped into the air as shuriken and kunai embedded into the ground where he just was. He flipped back in mid air and landed on a tree trunk, looking for Hiroshi.

After the steam cleared, Naruto could see that Hiroshi hadn't moved from where he last stood. Naruto jumped down from the tree he was in and faced Hiroshi.

"You know, by now your friends should be dead. I personally trained the ninjas I brought with me. But I could be lying, I did mention to leave the girl alive." Naruto unintentionally clenched his teeth together.

"She will make a fine breeding tool for my village. When she gets to a certain age, we'll make sure she's well taken care of... in the comfort of my home." Hiroshi sneered. Naruto clenched his teeth tighter as his fangs and claws grew. He tried to calm down again.

_'Easy now, this is exactly what he wants. What I need to do is try to ditch this guy and regroup with Hinata-chan and Shi...'_ Naruto was interrupted from his thoughts when Hiroshi spoke again.

"It's too bad you won't be alive long enough to hear her scream my name during the night." Hiroshi stated with a sick and perverted smirk. That was the last straw. Naruto's eyes first turned green as he activated his doujutsu but then it turned completely yellow, glowing a little with a black slit in place where the pupil usually is and a swirl formed around the slit pupil. His whiskers thickened and his hair got wilder. His back hunched back and he got on all fours, growling and snarling at Hiroshi.

"That's it, get angry... hate me, feed off that hatred and attack me!" Hiroshi yelled. Naruto jumped into action and swiped Hiroshi with his claws. Hiroshi dodged the first two swipes but was badly slashed in his left arm. He yelped in pain for a second before smiling again.

"Nice shot, but you'll have to do more than that if you want to stop me from making your whore mine!"

"SHUT UP!" A red shroud of chakra enveloped Naruto. It created two bumps on his head and one on his rear, creating fox-like ears and tail. Naruto roared, sending Hiroshi back into a tree. Before he hit the tree, he flipped back and landed on his feet. He jumped off the tree and returned to the spot he was standing in before.

"Now we're talking..."

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**Did you like chapter 4? I did, one of my favorites so far! Please remember to review and share your thoughts about my story with me! I'd really appreciate it!**

**Next Chapter: I refuse to give up! I will survive!  
**


	5. I refuse to give up! I will survive!

**Hello one and all to the fifth chapter to Naruto:Tale of His Life****...**

**Feels good to update for this story... It's like stretching my legs after sitting down for so long... Weird analogy but hey, it's something...**

**Anyways, hope the chapter is to your liking and it doesn't disappoint! Also, there will be another explanation of Naruto's doujutsu that may or may not anger you so be patient.**

**So yeah, enjoy!**

**Chapter 5: I refuse to give up! I will survive!  
**

* * *

Hinata woke up to find herself surrounded by the four, cloaked ninjas she and her team had run into earlier. She stood up and went into her family's fighting stance. She looked around and saw that Shino was still unconscious and that the cloaked ninjas were waiting for her to start the fight.

Naturally, that's what Hinata would've done, fight and fight until she couldn't fight anymore. But now she had to worry about not only her safety, but also that of her teammate. She thought over the options she had and came up with just waiting on them to make the first move. One of the cloaked ninja had become impatient and tried to tackle Hinata, not expecting her to bend back at an impossible angle and shutting off his left arm's chakra points. That ninja held his left arm, now hanging limp at his side, and glared at Hinata, or she thought he did.

Hinata spun on her heals and dodged another tackle from a second cloaked ninja. Suddenly, the cloaked ninjas saw veins popping out near her eyes and an outline of her pupil could be seen where before there had only been sclera.

Hinata heard the tallest ninja sneer as he spoke.

"So you too are tainted with a doujutsu. It's a shame really. I guess now we have no choice but to exterminate you." The tallest ninja said and nodded his head towards Shino. Hinata spotted this and saw one ninja run towards Shino, Hinata ran to his side to defend Shino, rearing her palm back and launched it when the ninja was within reach.

Her eyes widened in shock when the ninja swiftly moved to the left, completely avoiding the attack and kneeing her in the stomach. She fell to her knees and coughed up some blood, she was barely able to avoid the chop to her neck as she rolled out of harms way. She stood as fast as she could and back to Shino's side, panting and having a little trouble breathing.

The ninja that had attacked her chuckled as he prepared to attack again. He charged forward and threw his fist, Hinata slapped his hand away and kicked him in his sternum, sending back and surprising everyone in the clearing. Unfortunately, she did not have enough time to add chakra to her kick so the ninja didn't suffer any internal injuries, just a simple kick to the sternum.

Hinata cursed under her breath and wondered how she was going to make it out of the situation alive. She then heard Shino stirring and backed towards him, still facing the enemy ninja. She bent down so she could whisper to Shino.

"You ok?" From the corner of her eye, she could she him nod. "Good, now look, we are outclassed and I doubt we'd last even a minute if these guys decided to get serious. What do you think we should do?" She asked him.

"Right now would not be a good idea to fight. We are not prepared and have little to no experience when it comes to an actual fight. In my opinion, the best course of action is to confuse them long enough for the two of us to head back to Konoha and alert a jounin." Hinata shook her head.

"We can't do that, we have to find Naruto-kun first, then go back to Konoha." This time, Shino shook his head.

"We can't do that either. Do you think it is smart of us to go off to find him with these four ninjas plus the other one after us? The logical thing to do is to go to Konoha and let the adults handle this; besides, do you think Naruto would like us risking our life just to save him? I know he's our teammate and I want to save him too but no good would come from trying to save him while we have our own issues to deal with." Shino explained. Hinata hesitated at first but nodded her head.

"I'm getting sick of waiting..." One cloaked ninja said and attacked Hinata and Shino. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't fast enough to avoid Shino's attack. The cloaked ninja was suddenly covered from head to toe with bugs.

"It seems you didn't not see my kikaichū bugs while you attack me and my teammate. It is a shame that you will not be conscious long enough to regret your decision." Shino said as the cloaked ninja fell to his knees and then forward, hitting the ground and becoming unresponsive. Hinata let out a sigh of relief and gratitude; at least they had one less ninja to worry about. She then felt a someone behind her but before she could even blink, she was hit by a hard kick from behind.

Shino also didn't have the reflexes to react to the ninja behind him either, he too was hit and flew in the opposite direction of Hinata. When he landed, he skidded on the floor before coming to a complete stop. He looked up and saw Hinata struggling just to sit up. Shino felt pain around his ribs and guessed that they were cracked. He looked back to where he was before and saw an angry looking ninja, his hood down and his eyes blazing.

The ninja had brown hair and green eyes. He looked between Shino and Hinata, wondering who to strike down first. He settled on Hinata and charged, Shino stood and made to stop him but was once again kicked in the ribs, shattering them more and causing him to cough up blood. A second cloaked ninja stood above him with an air of arrogance.

"Such a sad sight when kids who play ninja try to stand up to actual ninjas. I should end you just for mocking the name ninja." The cloaked ninja took out a kunai and spun it in his hand.

Shino would later swear that he the heard a distinct sound of birds chirping loudly before, without warning, a hand shot out of the ninja's chest. The hand protruding from the ninja's torso was covered with a glove and electricity. The ninja's eyes then closed as he fell to the floor, lifeless and motionless. Shino was surprised and looked up to see a jounin with a grey broom for hair, a dark mask over his mouth, and his hitai-ite over one eye.

Kakashi looked down and eye smiled.

"You ok Shino?" Shino, still shocked in seeing his first death, could only nod his head.

"You'll die by my hands girl!" The cloaked ninja stated as he ran at Hinata, oblivious to the arrival of Kakashi, kunai in hand ready to end Hinata's life. Hinata instinctively took out a kunai and threw it at the ninja, he deflected it with his own, slowing but not stopping him. Hinata closed her eyes and waited for the pain, instead she didn't feel any pain but; heard someone gurgling, almost like they were trying to spit out water. She opened her eyes and gasped as she saw the attacking ninja hold his neck in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Hey, are you alright there?" Hinata looked up and saw a smoking jounin. This jounin had stubbly facial hair and looked at the dying ninja with indifference. He puffed his cigarette one last time before throwing it on the floor and putting it out with his foot.

"Y-Yeah..." Hinata stuttered. Asuma noticed her stutter and looked at her, she was visibly shaking and he had to guess it was because she had seen her first death. He sighed and shook his trench knives clean from the enemy's blood.

The last ninja panicked as he saw two jounins enter the fight. He decided to retreat but was stopped when he bumped into someone. Before the ninja could do something, he was punched in the face and was sent flying across the clearing. The ninja landed head first on a tree and was knocked unconscious.

"Yosh, the flames of youth still burn brightly in all of us!" Gai cheered as he entered the clearing. Kakashi looked up at him lazily.

"Hmm, did you say something Gai?" the Lazy jounin said nonchalantly, Gai fell face first to the ground.

"Ah Kakashi, why do you have to act so cool?" Gai whined but Kakashi ignored him. He looked around but didn't see anything, not what he was looking for anyways.

"Where's Naruto? Isn't he part of your group?" Hinata's eyes widened and she stood up. Everyone looked at her as she activated her Byakugan. Her right eye squinted but she still kept her doujutsu active, ignoring her obvious pain. After a minute of searching, she gave up and start running in to the forest. Asuma and Kakashi went after her as Kakashi gave Gai orders.

"Gai, take Shino and get him to a hospital. He could be seriously injured so be careful with him." Guy nodded and gently picked up Shino. He then headed for the hospital as quickly as he could without hurting Shino.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto could feel Kyuubi's chakra continue to surround him, the tainted chakra flowing through him. Naruto was disgusted in himself for giving into temptation but he knew it couldn't be helped; he was human and had made his fair share of mistakes.

_'I'm barely human now though.' _He thought as he dodged another fireball from Hiroshi. Naruto had to do something and fast, he found it odd that the fight wasn't over yet. Normally, with his Jikokugan active, he would stop time and just beat down his opponent without breaking a sweat, Horishi though, seemed unaffected by his doujutsu.

_'But that's impossible...'_ Hiroshi noticed Naruto's confused expression and laughed.

"Wondering why your precious Jikokugan isn't affecting me? Well it's pretty easy to answer... it is because of this!" Naruto saw Hiroshi pull out a necklace with a small glowing rock attached to it. Naruto didn't really understand it but he guessed that that was responsible for his doujutsu not working.

"I'll tell you now Namikaze, you will not beat me, not with your doujutsu anyways and it's all thanks to this rock. You see, it is said that your eye can control time; that no one could stand a chance against your clan. But that is a lie, all of it. Your clan can't really control time, only pause people and everything in your dome."

Naruto didn't move or say anything and could feel all-rational thoughts come back to him. He slowly forced Kyuubi's chakra back. Considering that this was an enemy ninja, Naruto wasn't sure if anything the man said was true, from calling him Namikaze to his doujutsu's ability being a lie.

"W-What do you mean?" Naruto stuttered. Hiroshi just smiled.

"You see, no man has control over time, it is impossible to have a grasp on time, let alone control it. People seem to ignore this and think that your clan was able to control time; no matter how many times other's have denied it. I did not truly believe that your clan could control time; it is an outrageous and idiotic claim. So when my grandfather returned home after killing of the last of the Namikaze clan, he had informed myself, and many others that the Namikaze's cannot control time, only what happens inside the dome they create.

"You see, what happens is that your doujutsu creates a dome that sends out electrical signals everywhere inside it. Living things receive this signal and because of the electrical disruption the dome causes to a humans' brain and muscles, it appeared that your doujutsu stopped time. My grandfather was ridiculed and they thought he was insane.

"I, on the other hand, had asked my grandfather what made him deduce this. His answer was that he saw time continue inside the dome. While he was fighting, he saw a Namikaze activate his doujutsu, stopping some people in their tracks. While watching others being slaughtered, he couldn't help but noticed that a minute had passed, or so the clock told him.

"Apparently, the electrical signals the dome sends out are not strong enough to effect anything more than a human or animal's brain and muscle, also, it keeps things still by using the user's chakra against them. For example, the electrical signals would stop a birds mind and tell its muscles to remain still and your chakra would keep it in place, whether it be in mid flight or walking around.

"So to speak,The Jikokugan's true effect is that it gives you an extreme regulation of bio-electrical currents, meaing that you can control electricity really well. Whether you're conscious of it or not."

"You still haven't explained how you are unaffected by it." Naruto said after registering Hiroshi's words. Hiroshi sighed and put his necklace back on.

"This necklace is charged with negative ions, opposite to the positive ions in the electricity your doujutsu creates. It is very hard to find these kinds of rocks. It is also true for others with doujutsu. If you were to go against another doujutsu user who's level is the same or stronger than your own, they will be unaffected by the doujutsu. Those below would be rendered useless and as good as dead."

Naruto got out of his fighting stance and thought about what he had just been told. Could he really believe what his enemy told him? He could be lying but it didn't seem likely.

Naruto yelped in pain as Hiroshi's fireball jutsu hit its mark. Naruto could feel his clothes burning while his nerves system was being tortured by fire. Naruto fell back and rolled around, to put out of the flames. Hiroshi was on him in an instant and picked him up by his collar, holding him at eye level.

"How does it feel to die at the hands of someone better than you?" Naruto just smirked weakly and spit in his face.

"H-How's it feel to lose to a brat like me?" The Naruto in Hiroshi's hands exploded into a cloud of smoke and was no where to be seen. Suddenly, Naruto appeared under him and landed a strong upper cut on Hiroshi's chin, sending Hiroshi flying and he landed hard. Naruto was panting as his burns quickly healed, and as quick as they were, Naruto was sure they weren't going to heal quick enough. Naruto fell to one knee and wondered how much longer he could go before his body gave out.

_**'Listen you brat, use my power and I'll guarantee you and your mate's survival.'**_ Naruto heard Kyuubi say. Naruto once again hesitated to respond which was long enough for the second voice to speak.

_'No. Don't give in Naruto. He will only use your body to seek revenge on Konoha.'_ Naruto was confused as to who the second voice was but this time, it wasn't as loud as it was before.

_'But, if I don't end this, then Hinata and Shino will still be in danger.'_

_'Do you want to save her while Kyuubi's in control? You wouldn't save her, he would.'_ Naruto was starting to get a headache and noticed that Hiroshi looked weary but not out. Naruto closed his eyes for a second to see how much chakra he had left and guessed how much Hiroshi had. He knew if he didn't do something quick, he would die along with Shino and maybe Hinata.

_'Kyuubi?' _Naruto could sense Kyuubi smirking.

**_'What is it boy?'_ **Naruto looked up with determination in his eyes.

_'I refuse.'_

**_'What?!'_**

_'I will not use your tainted power. I will finish this myself because I refuse to give up. I will ensure the survival of myself and my teammates... by myself!' _Naruto could sense that Kyuubi was not happy with his answer but he focused on the problem at hand.

Coming up with a quick plan, Naruto prayed it would work and sprang into action. He summoned three shadow clones and they ran side by side. The first one jumped and sent a kick to Hiroshi's chest, who blocked it with his right forearm and punched with his left fist. The second Naruto jumped and pushed him back with a kick as well. The third Naruto flew in through his defenses and flipped back, kicking Hiroshi in the chin. Hiroshi flew up a foot off the ground before the real Naruto grabbed on to Hiroshi's feet and slammed him down.

Hiroshi let out a gasp of pain before a Naruto clone landed on his chest and started to choke him. Not realizing the true purpose of the clone, Hiroshi ignored the pain he felt and shoved the clone of him with ease.

Hiroshi stood and laughed at Naruto's pathetic attempt to end the fight.

"You fool, do you really think that you can defeat me? You will die by my hands and it will happen today!" The clone that was shoved off of Hiroshi threw something at the original Naruto. Hiroshi's eyes widened when he saw what the item was and checked his person to see if it was a lie. "H-How's you get that?"

Naruto placed the shining rock under his foot and smashed it into small pieces.

"The clone was not actually trying to choke you... it was actually getting that necklace off of you." Naruto explained as his eye was starting to glow. "Let's see you stop me now." With one last comment, Naruto disappeared on to be behind Hiroshi.

"It over." Naruto said, holding a kunai at Hiroshi's neck. Hiroshi cursed under his breath and held his hands up, showing Naruto that he gave up. Naruto sighed, glad that the fighting was over. Before he could knock Hiroshi out, his vision started to get blurry and he suddenly felt like a kunai had entered his head.

He fell down and held his head, trying to suppress the pain he felt. He guessed that using the Jikokugan with a small amount of chakra was the cause of his pain. Adding more injury to his list, Hiroshi took the opportunity to kick Naruto in his chest, sending him across the clearing and into the ground. Naruto remained on the ground, helpless and in pain while Hiroshi looked at him with a satisfied smirk.

Hiroshi was about to finish him off but he felt two large chakra signatures arriving to his location and quickly. He scowled once more before leaving the area. Naruto yelled in pain as it suddenly became worse. Hinata soon came into the clearing and ran straight for Naruto. Kakashi and Asuma appeared seconds later and approached Naruto as well.

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" Naruto didn't answer her, he just kept his head in his hands and grunted. "Kakashi-sensei, Asuma-sensei, what's wrong with him?" She asked in concern. Kakashi and Asuma looked at each other and wondered if they could really tell her.

"It could be that just ran out of chakra, and with his abnormal amount that normally run through his system, his brain must feel like it's on fire, or he was hit with a jutsu from the enemy. Whatever the reason, we need to get him to the hospital. You too Hinata, you may be able to walk but that doesn't mean that you are fine." Said Kakashi.

Hinata didn't pay much attention to the last part, just that they needed to get Naruto to the hospital. She stood and tried to carry Naruto but Hinata fainted from exhaustion herself and fell over Naruto's unconscious form.

Kakashi smiled and he picked up Hinata. Asuma picked Naruto up and then both jounin left for the hospital.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto ran across the field and into a clearing to see two unknown bodies on the ground. He walked up to the one nearest to him and saw Shino, blood pouring from his mouth and his form unmoving. Naruto immediately backed away and his heart started to quicken its pace.

_'I was too late... which means...' _Naruto looked at the other body and was almost too afraid to find out who it was. Nonetheless, he walked over to it and when he was close enough, he saw Hinata's lifeless eyes looking back at him. The once cheerful and bright eyes that always made him feel better were now dull and lifeless, staring back at him. This time, Naruto's heart stopped all together. Naruto fell back and continued to look into Hinata's eyes.

"Hinata!"

[*.*.*.*]

Hinata burst into Naruto's room to see him looking around the room for something. When he spotted her, Naruto couldn't believe his eyes.

"H-Hinata, is that r-really you?" Hinata didn't really get what he meant by that but answered anyways.

"Yes Naruto-kun, it's me." She said incredulously. "Wha-?"

Naruto stood up and walked over to her. He put his hand on her cheek, causing both of them to blush at the contact. Naruto smiled happily and hugged her, surprising her with the sudden action.

"It really is you, I thought you..." Naruto couldn't finish, it was too painful. Hinata was still in shock so she didn't hear what he just said. Impulsively, she wrapped her arms around Naruto and let her head rest on his shoulder after getting over her initial shock. It wasn't long before they were interrupted.

"Ahem." They heard Kurenai say behind them. Naruto and Hinata both turned to see Kurenai smiling with Shino and Iruka standing behind her. Naruto and Hinata blushed a deep shade of red and let each other go. Hinata looked at one side of the room and Naruto looked at the other. "I'm sorry to intrude on anything you two had going, but I need to talk to both of you, along with you Shino." Kurenai said, smiling.

Shino nodded his head and Iruka couldn't help a small chuckle escape his lips when he saw both Hinata and Naruto extremely uncomfortable. Kurenai gave Iruka a glare and he immediately backed off, walking away from the group leaving room for Kurenai and Shino to enter the room. She closed the door and let her genin sit down.

"So, explain to me exactly what happened while you three were taking a simple test?" The jounin asked, her tone hard and her eyes like ice.

Team 8 looked at each other as they each took turns explaining what happened. Naruto decided to take over when they reached the part where he was separated from the rest of his team. He left out some parts like when Kyuubi took over and the comments Hiroshi said about Hinata.

Hinata then continued with her side of the story along with Shino. When they finished, Kurenai nodded and sighed.

"Well, I'm glad you all survived but you didn't necessarily passed the test." Naruto's, along with Hinata, face fell and Shino remained passive.

"But it wasn't fair!" Hinata retorted.

"While I would usually refrain from commenting, I must agree with my teammate. Our test was interrupted by elder ninjas and thus would make the test void, wouldn't it?" Shino asked, making Kurenai think about it.

"Kurenai-sensei, why don't you just make us take a second test, at least to be fair." Naruto said meekly. This made Kurenai think even more. Finally she nodded and stood.

"Tomorrow morning, I want you all to meet me in the training spot you went to this morning. You will each fight one another in a free for all. The first to be defeated will be sent back to the academy and the remaining two will stay in the team." Naruto, Hinata and even Shino were surprised with what they just heard. They were going to have to fight each other and the first to lose was going back to the academy.

"I'm sorry sensei, but I can't do that. If I have to fight my friends so I can go on to be a genin and be on the team, then I don't want to be one." Naruto said. Kurenai looked at Naruto with interest.

"Really? Well ok then, Hinata and Shino, tomorrow, we'll meet up and..."

"Actually Kurenai-sensei, I agree with Naruto-kun. I don't want to be on a team where we would be constantly competing with each other. Teamwork isn't built off competition but trust and confidence in each member on the team." Hinata stated, earning a nod from Shino and a smile from Naruto.

"So you three would actually go back to the academy for another year just because you're afraid that you'll ruin your friendship?"

"No offense Kurenai-sensei but you're wrong." Kurenai glared at Naruto but he didn't back down. "I'm sorry to have said that Kurenai-sensei but it is true. While I know anyone of my teammates may be able to defeat me, I am not afraid to fight either of them. I am simply stating that I don't want to be in a team where we would have to fight each other just so we can have a conflict solved." Naruto stated.

"Is that how you two feel as well?" Hinata and Shino nodded, making Kurenai smile. "Then you pass." Shino and Hinata both looked at Kurenai with wide eyes, or at least Hinata was, Shino just had his eyebrows raised.

"What..." Hinata said, clearly confused.

"Let me explain, the first test you three took was to see if you'll be able to work together while at the same time, be loyal enough to not look into the package and scroll. Originally, Kakashi, Asuma and Gai were going to test your teamwork but apparently, that backfired on me. This test however was to see how loyal you were to each other. If you had agreed to my proposition, I would've failed you without a second thought. I'm glad to see that I have picked the right candidates to become genin. Congratulations."

Hinata grinned and Shino nodded his head, his way of celebrating his passing of the test.

Then everyone on team 8 noticed that Naruto was a lot more quiet than usual. Hinata, Kurenai and Shino looked at him to see he wasn't moving. Hinata touched his shoulder to see of he was ok but he fell down, asleep, but fine. Hinata let out a sigh of relief while Kurenai chuckled a bit.

_'This is going to be an interesting team.'_

* * *

Hey, how's the story so far... I'd really appreciate it if you'd tell me in a review...

**Also, Naruto's doujutsu is very complicated because I know it went from controlling time to extreme regulation of bio-electrical currents but I realized that it would be almost impossible to come up with an enemy that'll be able to stand up against a kid who can stop time and kill them in less than a second so I settled with a knack for electrical control... This means that Naruto will have an affinity for electricity...**

**Don't worry, soon we'll see who was right about the Jikokugan and who made it up, hope no one's confused til then... If you are, you can ask me and I'll be happy to help! I know that Kurenai's second test was easy but it'd be pretty boring if you had to read how another year in the academy went, so yeah...**

**Any questions or comments, please leave in a review, thanks..**

**Oh yeah, you should check out this story called The Blond Legend by Legend of Namikaze Naruto... It's a Naruhina [You will never find me reading another...] and it's really good and gets really suspenseful as you keep reading... It's still not complete but the cliffhangers are heart stopping, especially the one in chapter 15... Lots of Naruhina moments and I suggest you read it if you like Naruhina...**

**Anyways, thanks for reading!**

**Next Chapter: Quality time with Hinata and Team 8!**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!**


	6. Quality time with Hinata and Team 8!

**New update! Enjoy and review!**

**Chapter 6: Quality time with Hinata and Team 8...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just the plot...**

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Hinata walked down the street, not being able to enjoy the lovely weather in Konoha. The sun was shining down on any and everything in sight and there was not a cloud in the sky. She looked up at the summer sky, her thoughts clouded with thoughts of Naruto. When Kurenai had dismissed the team, she and Shino left the room while Hinata stayed behind and waited for Naruto to wake up again. When he awoke, she had asked him what he left out in his telling of what happened. It didn't go as well as she had hoped...

"Hinata..." Hinata looked up to see her father outside the Hyuuga compound, his arms crossed and his usual stoic expression placed on his face. Hinata bowed, wondering when exactly she had reached the compound. She came back up and saw that her father had a certain look in his eye. Hinata knew what it meant and nodded as she followed her father to his office. She held a stoic expression as well and many branch members bowed as they passed. She couldn't help but crack the expression and smile at some.

When she walked in Hiashi's office, the door shutting behind them, her stoic expression disappeared and she hugged her father, who hugged her back, a smile cracking his face.

"Hi dad!" She exclaimed.

"How was your test today Hinata-chan?" Hiashi asked, taking a seat on the cushion behind his desk. Hinata sat on the cushion in front of it and smiled only to be replaced with a small frown as she answered his troubling question.

"We were attacked by some mysterious ninjas after Naruto-kun. We were split up for a moment but luckily Kakashi-sensei, Asuma-sensei and Gai-sensei got there in time before me and Shino were hurt too badly. Shino had some broken ribs but he's fine as long as he takes it easy." Hinata replied, the memories flashing through her mind.

"You say that three jounin saved you and your second teammate, but what of Naruto?" Hinata looked away in sadness.

"He told me that the man said a couple of things about him and he attacked the man. He also said that he doesn't remember much after he lost consciousness due to a sudden pain in his head." Hiashi looked at his daughter, observing his behavior.

"What seems to be bothering you Hinata-chan?" Hiashi asked. Hinata looked at her father again, the same sadness in her eyes.

"He wasn't telling us something, a couple of things actually. I could see that whatever it is he's hiding, it's something he's too afraid to tell me or the team."

Hiashi thought about what his daughter had told him, curious himself as to what Naruto was hiding. He decided he should gauge what, if anything, Naruto had told her. "Why were the mysterious ninjas after Naruto?"

"Naruto told me that they were after..." Hinata paused, remembering Naruto saying that he didn't want anyone outside of his team to know about his doujutsu. Hinata was surprised Kurenai wasn't surprised with the news but decided to ask about it later. "Sorry father but Naruto-kun didn't want anyone outside the team to know why." Hiashi raised his eyebrow, wondering if she was talking about Kyuubi.

"You mean 'it'?" Hiashi asked. Hinata looked up in surprised.

"You know about it?" Hinata asked, wondering how her father knew about Naruto's doujutsu.

"Everyone knows Hinata-chan. The Third made it a law to not mention it so no one from the older generation may pass on their hatred of him to the newer generation." Hinata had a thoughtful expression, making him wonder what she was thinking about.

"But why would that be necessary?" She asked in an amazed voice. Hiashi wasn't so sure they were talking about the same thing, so he decided to find out.

"Hinata-chan... Do you know what we're talking about?" Hiashi asked.

"Naruto-kun's doujutsu." Hinata answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Hiashi's eyes widened, this was the last thing he would expect to hear.

"W-What doujutsu?" Hiashi asked incredulous. Hinata eyed her father suspiciously.

"Isn't that what we were talking about?" She asked.

"I was talking about... well, it is unimportant. Now tell me more of his doujutsu." Hiashi ordered, his back straight and his mind already taking mental notes.

"Sorry father, Naruto doesn't want anyone else to know." Hinata told him stubbornly. Hiashi sighed, wondering what it would take to make his daughter tell him. Not really coming up with anything, he dismissed his daughter.

"Ok then, but before I go father, what were you talking about when you said 'it'?" She said, putting air quotes on it. Hiashi shook his head, he really didn't want to be executed to death.

"It's not my place to say, if you must know, ask Naruto." He said before looking down at the paper work he put off. Hinata looked at her father once more before bowing to him and leaving, off to the hospital to talk to Naruto.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto sighed as he stared at the hospital ceiling and counting the seemingly infinite holes that each tile had. Unfortunately for him, he was able to prove just how many holes each tile had because he was recounting every hole in each tile for the third time.

"Five hundred seventy-five million three hundred ninety-nine thousand, four hundred sixty four." Naruto said aloud, not really caring if someone heard him, he was an extremely fast counter. He was bored out of his mind and he wanted to leave but the only doctor to actually care about his health had told him he still needed to stay in the hospital one more day before he could be released.

There was a knock on his door and he slowly tilted his head to the side, still in pain.

"It's open." He answered quietly. The door opened and he was surprised to one of his old sensei.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted as he stepped into the room and sat down on a chair near Naruto's bed. Thankfully, because of his status as the 'demon child' of Konoha, he was given a room all to himself, there was no one in the room besides Kakashi and Naruto.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, his voice less meek than Kakashi remembered it. He eye smiled and put his orange book away in his kunai pouch. Naruto didn't mind him reading the book, he honestly didn't care if it had pictures, he only cared that Kakashi cared about him. Though he was a little wary of Kakashi and all the other adults, he was still willing to trust Kakashi, if only a little.

"So Naruto, I'm pretty sure you're tired of retelling this whole ordeal over and over again but I was kind of hoping that you'd tell me what really happened during your fight." Naruto's slightly happy expression was replaced with a thoughtful expression.

"A-All that happened was that I fought and I lost. T-That's it." He said in a low voice. Kakashi sent Naruto a critical look. When Naruto saw it, he tried to look away but he couldn't.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked. Naruto gulped and was finally able to break the eye contact.

"Well, there is one thing..." Naruto began, catching Kakashi full attention.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"What was the Fourth Hokage's name... and I mean full name." Naruto asked, his tone was quiet and wavered from time to time. Kakashi noticed his tone, and noted it with a cocked eyebrow.

"His name? Oh well it was Namikaze Minato. Why?" Naruto closed his eyes as the words of the man from yesterday's fight played in his head.

_"I'll tell you now Namikaze, you will not beat me, not with your doujutsu anyways..."_ Echoed through his mind, the face of his antagonist sneering at him.

Naruto opened his eyes and smiled nervously.

"No reason, I just wanted to make sure." Naruto told him, but Kakashi was a bit skeptical.

"You sure?" He asked but Naruto nodded his head. Before any more questions could be ask, a second knock was heard. Without waiting for an answer, the door opened and Naruto and Kakashi saw Hinata looking into the room.

"Oh, am I interrupting?" Kakashi looked back at Naruto and gave him a look that said "we're not done". Naruto meekly nodded his head and Kakashi stood.

"Not at all Hinata, I was just leaving. Have fun you to and try not to do something I wouldn't do." Kakashi said with a suggestive wave all the while taking out his book. Naruto blushed a deep shade of red, Hinata, on the other hand, had no idea what the odd jounin had meant or why he held an orange book out. He then disappeared in a swirl of wind and leaves, which then blew out of the window.

_'Who opened the window?'_ Naruto mused to himself. Hinata made her way to the chair nearest to Naruto, the one that Kakashi had just vacated, and sat down. He looked at her as she looked at him but it wasn't long before Naruto blushed and looked away, Hinata raised an eyebrow in interest.

_'He's shy, how cute...'_ She thought as she cleared her throat to get his attention. He looked up at her and she smiled.

"So Naruto-kun, how are you holding up?" She asked nonchalantly.

"I-I've been fine. What about you?" He asked nervously, making her smile widen.

"I've been ok I guess, though there is something that's been on my mind lately." She said.

"Oh? What's up?" He asked, hoping to help out a friend.

"Well, to put it simply, it's been you." She said bluntly. Naruto blushed and felt his heart beat quicken.

"W-What?" He asked, not really believing her.

"Well you see, it's about you and your fight from yesterday. I mean, the doujutsu... I only thought there was the Sharingan and the Byakugan but now there's... what is it you called it?" She asked.

"The J-Jikokugan." He answered. She nodded her head.

"Exactly. I didn't know there was another doujutsu. I mean, there was the Rinnegan but the only known person to have had it was The Sage of the Six Paths. And, well... I talked to my father earlier today and we talked about you." Naruto raised both eyebrows in surprise.

"W-Well what did you talk about?"

"I'm not going to lie to you Naruto-kun, I mentioned your doujutsu to my father by accident because I thought he knew. He was talking about it like he did until we realized that we were on two separate subjects. Naruto-kun, do you have another secret you're hiding from me?" She asked, making Naruto gulp loudly and sweat profusely. He shook his head vehementaly, while his stuttering worsened.

"N-No, o-of course n-not." He told her, trying his hardest to control his stuttering but to no avail. Hinata shook her head and closed her eyes.

"I know you're lying Naruto-kun, you're not very good at it." She looked at him in the eyes and he could see the sincerity in her eyes. "Please Naruto-kun, we're a team and we shouldn't keep secrets from each other." Naruto broke the eye contact, looking at his hands as he thought it over.

'_Can I really trust her?'_ He thought.

"Ok then, how about a compromise. I tell you one of my secrets then you'll tell me one of yours. How's that sound?" She said, making Naruto think about it even more. After thinking it over, he hesitantly nodded his head. Hinata smiled and thought hard, wondering what secret she should tell him. She snapped her fingers at a secret.

"When no one's looking, I scarf down every single cinnamon bun I see." She told him and she saw a smile creep Naruto's face. "Hmm?"

"I'm sorry but everyone knows you scarf down cinnamon buns Hinata." He said, amused. Hinata looked crest fallen for a moment before thinking of another secret.

"Oh… um well..." Hinata looked around suspiciously, making sure no one heard her. "You know how in the more deserted part of the village there is graffiti on some of the buildings?" Hinata sighed when she saw him nod his head. "Well, I did them." She wanted to laugh when she saw Naruto's shocked expression but she didn't want him to be offended.

"Y-You did those?" She nodded her head.

"Yeah I know, it's not what you'd expected from the Hyuuga Heiress but sometimes being proper gets boring." She said in a huff. She didn't think it was a big deal, but she really didn't want anyone knowing because they would think it was a big deal. Hinata saw that he was going to say something else so she lifted her hand up.

"Uh! No, no more questions, it's your turn." She smiled as she put her hand down, waiting for Naruto to tell her his secret.

"W-well, my s-secret is... is the reason why the v-village hates me." He said, trying to prolong the inevitable. Hinata tilted her head in curiosity.

"Oh? Well what is it?" She asked, more intrigued than the minute before. Naruto felt his sweat slide down his forehead, his hands clamp up and his stomach tighten. This is the last thing he wanted to do, he didn't want to tell Hinata about Kyuubi and have her hate him. He didn't want to think about losing a close friend like Hinata. But still, a promise is a promise.

"Well, i-it's like this. You know about Kyuubi?" He asked, refusing to look at her. Hinata cocked an eyebrow, not understanding what it had to do with this. She shrugged her shoulders.

"More or less. It's dead isn't it?" She asked. Her eyes widened when Naruto shook his head.

"N-Not exactly. You can't kill something like the Kyuubi... It was sealed... inside a-a boy... t-twelve years ago." He saw realization come to Hinata's face. "M-me." Naruto closed his eyes and waited for Hinata to yell at him or something. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes to see a very angry Hinata with her head down.

Naruto assumed that she was mad at him seeing as Kyuubi did kill some of the Hyuugas that tried to defend the village.

"I-I'm sorry..." This brought Hinata out of her anger and she looked up in surprise to see Naruto with some tears in his eyes. Before a word could pass her lips, she saw Naruto's eye glow a dull green and he vanished. Hinata blinked in confusion before it finally hit her.

_'He thinks I'm mad at him..._' Her anger returned as she slammed her hand on top of a nearby nightstand. _'This village is so ignorant! I can't believe this is why they hate him. Ah, it gets me so mad!'_

She tried to relax, getting mad was not going to help, in any capacity. She stood up and headed for the door. Before she could open it, it opened by itself and a nurse walked in. She was confused by Naruto's disappearance but not displeased, letting out a sigh of relief; completely oblivious of Hinata standing in front of her.

"At least I don't have to take care of that demon." She said to herself, still loud enough for Hinata to hear. Without thinking, Hinata punched the nurse in the stomach and knocked her out with a swift chop to her neck. Hinata cracked a victorious sneer as she left the room and went to look for Naruto.

"Ignorant people, I swear..." She mumbled while she left.

[*.*.Next day.*.*]

Naruto fidgeted in place as he waited for his team to meet for some practice, and a few D-ranked missions that Kurenai promised. He was nervous, he didn't really want to be there, he wanted to die and let everyone live in peace. Now that Hinata hated him, he thought that he couldn't be part of the team anymore. How could a team function if one member hated another?

As it seems, not only did the village hate him, but also fate and destiny since Hinata was the second person to show up for the team meeting. Naruto couldn't even look at her, let alone anything off the grown. He kept his vision downward and his expression as stoic as possible, which wasn't a lot.

Hinata walked up to Naruto and tapped his shoulder. He looked up for a split second before looking back down.

"Oh, h-hey Hinata, I'm guessing y-you're here to tell me that you hate me now?" He asked in a small voice.

"Nope, not at all. I just wanted to ask why you ran off like you did?" She asked him, then sat down and looked at the morning sky. Naruto sat next to her, too shocked to say anything. "I mean, I wasn't mad at you, just at the village. I think it's a stupid reason to hate you. If you were a jerk than maybe… but that's not the case." She looked Naruto in the eyes and sent him a smile that made Naruto's heart beat faster.

"I don't hate you Naruto-kun, you're too nice for me to hate. In fact, you're one of my closest friends and the fact that you had that fur ball sealed inside you all this time doesn't change it." Naruto smiled a little; glad to have a friend like Hinata. A small tear came to his eyes and he felt her envelope him in a hug.

"It's ok to cry Naruto-kun, I'm here for you." She whispered in his ear and it didn't take long for him to brake down and hug her back. Hinata smiled as she held him.

_'What he needs now is a friend, nothing more. When he needs something more, that's when I'll tell him how I feel_.' She thought. After a while, Naruto composed himself and Hinata decided to cheer him up.

"You know what? This is actually pretty cool. If you have that thing sealed inside you, you could use its chakra to super charge your jutsus!" She yelled as she stood up. She waved her arms wildly. "You could be all powerful and beat anyone you wanted, you'd be unstoppable." Flailing her arms again to emphasize her point. Naruto chuckled but shook his head.

"That's ok I guess but if I want really want to become stronger, I'm going to have to do this by myself. Besides, his chakra comes at a price. The more chakra I use, the more influence it has over me." He stated, bring Hinata back down and making her pout.

"It's easier to poke holes in ideas than to actually come up with them." She shot back, but Naruto chuckled. It didn't take long for Kurenai to come, quickly followed by Shino.

"By the way Hinata, please don't tell anyone about 'it'... I don't really want to take a risk." Naruto whispered to Hinata, earning a nod from her. When Kurenai and Shino were in front of Naruto and Hinata, Kurenai nodded her head and smiled, which they would soon learn was almost never a good thing.

"Well, I'm glad we all came here at the right time and look rested up for today's events. Now, I know that I passed you three and are an official team, but I have one more test you three have to take."

Naruto inwardly groaned but nodded his head. Sino also nodded his head, not really caring if there was another test, so long as they weren't demoted. Hinata though, felt differently or at least showed it differently.

"What?! Another one? Are you sure that that's a good idea? I mean, remember what happened yesterday?" Hinata asked. Kurenai balled her hand into a fist and coughed into it.

"Ahem, yes Hinata, I do remember what happened yesterday. But this is different. This is an evaluation test to see just how good you three are." She told her genin, they each nodded their heads in understanding. Kurenai smiled and started making quick hand signs.

"The test starts now." She said with a smile as her body started to blow away by an unfelt wind. Team Kurenai placed their backs together and looked around, not wanting to be ambushed.

Hinata activated her Byakugan and Naruto readied himself to activate the Jikokugan while Shino sent out his bugs to search for his sensei. After a while no one spotted anything so they relaxed, only a little. Naruto looked at his two other teammates, they at him.

"So what do we do now?" He asked.

"Should we go after her?" Hinata asked.

"I think we should wait here, that way we can stand a chance against her. We might just be genin but we might be able to defeat her if we stick together." Shino said.

"Yeah but the point of this test is to evaluate us, not for us to win in a fight against her. So I'm guessing that she will come to us soon to see where we are lacking in skills in terms of teamwork." Hinata said.

Naruto nodded but then a thought hit him, and said "Or maybe what we lack individually."

Two arms came off the ground like it was water and grabbed on to Naruto's legs, dragging him screaming into the ground.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled jumping to save him, but before she could make it, Naruto was absorbed into the ground as if he fell into water.

Hinata hit the ground but nothing happened, she activated her kekkei genkai, still not seeing anything.

"I see… It seems like she wants to see how each of use do separately." Shino deduced. Hinata stood and searched all over the place. "Why are you so worried? It's just a test, it is not like she is actually going to hurt him." Shino asked.

"I... it's because... Shino I don't have time to play twenty questions!" Hinata yelled as she continued to search for Naruto, Shino cocked an eyebrow.

"It is because you like him, is it not." He stated more than asked. Hinata hesitated for a second before she shook her head.

"T-That... That's not it, I'm just worried for my comrade." She retorted but Shino shook his head.

"You cannot fool me. Naruto may not see it but I am not so blind. I see the way you look at him and how you act towards him. All I am asking is why? What is it about him that makes you like him so much?" Shino asked. "He is so secluded and has no self esteem, not to mention that he seems to have some trust issues and an inferiority complex." Hinata eyed him suspiciously but answered nonetheless.

"It's because, well, I was never as confident as I am now." Hinata started to explain.

[*.*.Flashback.*.*]

_"Your eyes are so weird..." said one child._

_"Yeah, they're even creepy looking. No wonder your clan is so isolated, they're all ugly." _

_The boys in the class were making fun of Hinata, saying this and much more, making Hinata cry as she curled into a ball against the wall of the school. The boys laugh some more until something, rather someone else, got their attention._

_"C-Can you leave that girl a-alone, please." A faint voice asks the boys. _

_Hinata looked up and saw that same boy she helped save. She then saw the other boys smirk and start running after Naruto who, ran off when he saw their smirks. Hinata wanted to get up and help Naruto but she couldn't, her body wouldn't let her._

_After getting the strength to stand Hinata ran in the direction she saw Naruto and the other boys head. It didn't take long as she saw someone's blood on the ground and then more blood leading into a nearby alley. Hinata followed the trail of blood into the alley and saw that it stopped in front of a fallen trash bin. She was too scared to look inside but did nonetheless. When she saw a bloody and beat up Naruto, she felt her voice stick in her throat._

_Naruto was barely conscious and his left eye was swelled up, he had many bruises and cuts and was much paler than he used to be. She didn't hesitate to drag him out of the trashcan, pulling out some of the ointment and healing herbs she carried around just in case she was ever in an accident. She started to apply the salves to Naruto's bruises and cuts._

_Naruto winced once or twice but other than that, he was calm and unmoving. When she finished, she put it away and put Naruto's arm over her shoulder so she could take him to her house since it was closer. During the walk, Naruto lazily looked at Hinata._

_"W-Why are y-you... helping me... again?" He asked in between groans. Hinata smiled at him while trying not to cry._

_"Because you helped me and I can't let you die, it's not right." She told him. Without another word, Naruto lost consciousness and made it harder for Hinata to carry him but she didn't want to wake him, not that she could have anyways._

[*.*.End of Flashback.*.*]

"I don't think he remembers me talking to him or saving him at all. He acted as though I never saved him or even talked to him but that never stopped him from protecting me from the boys who usually picked on me, which kept happening until I had enough and decided to defend myself. Then Naruto wouldn't have to keep getting hurt because of me. I got the confidence I have today because of him, because he never stopped defending me or anyone else who needed help. And that's why I... like him." Hinata finished explaining. Shino looked at her as she tried to stop the tears that appeared.

"It is more than that isn't it?" Shino finally asked.

"More than what?" She asked, clearly confused.

"Your feelings from him. It's more than a simple crush." Shino stated. Hinata bit her bottom lip and looked away, unsure of what to say. Shino wasn't expecting an answer and wasn't going to get one as two hands grabbed his legs and started to pull him into the ground just as it had to Naruto. "It appears to be my turn."

"So it seems, good luck." Hinata said. Shino nodded his head and soon disappeared, leaving Hinata alone to think about what Shino told her.

"Is there more than that?" She mused to herself.

Hinata then heard a snap behind her and whirled around to see a smiling Naruto. It kind of surprised her that he finished his test so quickly but shrugged it off and walked over to him. When she was about a foot away from him, Naruto's eyes flashed in a green glow and he vanished. Before Hinata was able to react, she was kicked in her back, sending her forward and onto the ground. She coughed as dust rose and with squinting eyes looked up as Naruto walked over to her.

"You're not Naruto-kun." Hinata snarled as she stood and activated her Byakugan. Naruto's smile became sinister as his eyes glowed green again and he disappeared. With her Byakugan active, she was able to duck under his roundhouse kick and land an upper cut to his chin. Naruto was sent in the air and as he was coming down, Hinata prepared to strike him with an open palm.

With Naruto within her reach, Hinata charged her hand with her chakra and cocked it back, and threw the punch with precise timing and would've hit Naruto in the chest but suddenly, his green eyes snapped open and he vanished out of thin air, almost like he instantly teleported away. Hinata whirled around, waiting for the imposter to show up so she could continue to beat him.

She didn't hear anything and didn't see anything so she took this time to think over the situation.

She was currently waiting for her evaluation test while Shino took his.

Naruto appeared out of nowhere and attacked her.

She knew it wasn't the really him, he wouldn't attack her without a good reason and even then, he would talk it over before resorting to violence.

She didn't know who was actually attacking her or why, all she knew was that if the fight continued, she probably wouldn't be able to do well in the evaluation test.

Then it clicked in her head, Kurenai never said they would be taking the test one at a time, just that it had already started. Hinata smiled as it finally made sense, the Naruto she was fighting was actually testing her, to see how well she fought.

[*.*.Outside the genjutsu.*.*]

Naruto nervously sat by Kurenai who had her eyes closed with a small smile on her face. Naruto wondered what was happening inside the genjutsu that made her smile so much. At one point, she scowled, as if she heard something that repulsed her. Then she had a heart-warming smile that soon changed into one of pride. He really wanted to see how his teammates were fairing against their opponents, but sadly, the test didn't function like that. Only the caster and the victim can see the genjutsu, which means that he was out of the loop.

Naruto sighed as he leaned back and tried to go to sleep. Not too long after he closed his eyes, Kurenai's whole body shook and she opened her eyes. Naruto noticed this before he was able to go to sleep and smiled, the test was finally over. He opened his eyes and saw Shino and Hinata looking around, confused and surprised.

"You three did a good job. You each have a unique skill to contribute to the group and are more than prepared to start missions." Shino and Hinata looked at Kurenai and then at Naruto who was still on the ground.

"What? Why are you lying down on the floor? Didn't you take the test too?" Hinata asked, pointing at Naruto. Naruto just nodded his head.

"Yes, I did. I fought my fight and Kurenai had asked me to show her everything I had. Once that was done, she released me from the genjutsu and told me to wait until you two were finished." Naruto explained meekly. It took Hinata a while to register this and when she did, she smiled and hugged Naruto.

"Good job Naruto." Hinata congratulated. Naruto blushed at the close contact and praise.

"Thanks, I don't know what you guys did but apparently, it was enough to get you to pass." Hinata nodded but didn't release Naruto from the hug. Kurenai laughed as she walked over to Shino.

"You think he'll figure it out?" She asked him.

Shino looked at Naruto and Hinata one more time before giving his answer.

"Maybe… However, in the little time I have known him it is too hard to tell. He can be very unpredictable." Shino replied, earning a nod from Kurenai.

"Alright, brake it up. Now let's go to the academy so we can get our first mission." Kurenai ordered as she started walking to the academy with Shino following behind. Hinata had let Naruto go and went after the two. Naruto was still aloof until he realized that he was left behind. He made a run for his team, trying to catch up.

**

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That's it, that's chapter 6...**

**Oh and please check out IfakeoutI's stories! It's interesting so far and I'm sure he'd appreciate the views!**

**Also, please reviews and tell me what you think of the story so far cuz it'd really help me out...**

**Not much left to say except... **

**Next Chapter: Missions, missions and more missions!**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	7. Missions, missions and more missions!

**AH!! It's feels good to update this story... I personally like this story a lot... Even more than my others... why? well probably cuz I don't feel like I'm rushing Naruto's and Hinata's relationship... Yeah, its fun to type about them as a couple but sometimes its fun to tease them when they're not........ like in this chapter =]... You'll see what I mean soon enough...**

**I also missed everyone who reads and reviews this story! I love hearing your feedback and talking you to in general!!! Very fun talking to strangers about my story... Haha as sarcastic as it sounds, its the truth!!!**

**Well, guess there's not much to be said so enjoy the story...**

**Chapter 7 _[Finally ^.^]_: Missions, missions and more missions!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I do own the other cloaked guy... Ya know the guy with the... never mind... just read and review plz...**

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It was a day like any other; the sun shined brightly over Konoha, its villagers walked around doing countless errands and its shinobi work diligently on their assigned missions. As one group of shinobi finished their missions, another group would just receive theirs.

As a light breeze passed by the faces of a particular group of genin, said genin were sitting on the ground outside of the academy, panting and resting after finishing their fourth D-rank mission for the day. Their sensei went inside for them, to let the Hokage know of their completed mission.

"I cannot believe that cat went missing for the fifth time this week." Shino stated as his bugs tried to cool his body down. Naruto nodded in agreement and Hinata didn't feel the need to comment right away. She didn't necessarily hate the cat, if anything, she and the cat were very fond of each other. The problem was the fact that Tora would continually run away from the Damiyo's wife and for some unknown reason head near Konoha.

Whether Konoha should consider that a blessing or a curse is debatable.

"I for one can't blame her. Have you seen the way the Damiyo's wife hugs the poor thing to death?" Hinata asked and Naruto and Shino suddenly felt a bit sorry for the cat.

"Well at least the day is over now. After four D-rank missions, I feel like I am about to collapse." Shino commented.

"Yeah, after pulling all those weeds out of that one woman's lawn, painting an entire two story building, baby-sitting four five year olds and even chasing after Tora, I'm about ready to head home and sleep for the rest of the day." Hinata complained with an exasperated sigh. "And after all is said and done, I still have training with Hanabi and father."

"I too have family training after this and father insists on updating my insects or at least obtaining a second colony." Shino added and Hinata nodded.

"The things we do for our clan, huh Shino?" Hinata joked and Shino nodded his head in agreement. Hinata then noticed that Naruto was being very quiet. It was odd since lately she and him have been talking a lot more lately.

She was able to find out more about Naruto then she could ever expect to. One thing in particular was that he did seem to like a girl but refrained from telling more. After about an hour of asking non-stop questions, Hinata got the hint that Naruto did not want to share that extra piece of detail with her. It didn't really sit well with her but she let it go... for the time being.

"Hey Naruto-kun, why are you so quiet?" Hinata asked but Naruto didn't answer. One look at his green eyes told Hinata that he was in deep thought. About what, Hinata could only guess but if it had anything to do with his expression, it wasn't anything good. His expression then changed to one of fear or at least of timidity. His eyes then returned to their normal cerulean color and Naruto looked at the ground, almost as if he was afraid to look up.

"If it isn't the outcasts of the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Hinata and Shino looked up to see team 7 and their sensei standing across from them.

"Play nice while I go turn in our report and for once Sasuke, don't start another fight." Kakashi warned as he left his team to turn in their report. Sasuke just scoffed and redirected his attention to team 8.

"So what have you losers been up to?" Sasuke mocked as he crossed his arms over his chest. Sakura snickered and Kiba was a bit amused but he didn't show it. If he at least wanted a chance with Hinata, he would at least have to act like he wasn't against her and her teammates.

"Shut up Uchiha, the only real loser here is you since all you do is talk. I've never seen a dog with a bigger bark than you!" Hinata retorted. Kiba's face lit up with amusement, he just wanted to laugh at Hinata's words. Hinata didn't intend to use a pun and didn't realize it until she saw Kiba trying to hide his smirk; Akamaru was just as amused but, like its master, hid it from everyone else.

"Those are fighting words Hyuuga. Remember your place." Sasuke fired back with an arrogant smirk.

"Oh, I remember all right, turn around so my foot can find its way back to its place." Hinata replied, not wanting to lose the verbal fight she was in. Sasuke's smirk was wiped off and replaced with a scowl.

"Hey you can't talk to Sasuke-kun like that!" Sakura screeched.

"And here comes the banshee to protect the hurt pride of the stuck up prick." Hinata commented, not directing to anyone in particular. Sasuke's and Sakura's angered flared.

"I dare you to say that again!" Sakura yelled.

"What part, the screaming banshee part or the stuck up prick?" Hinata yelled back with an innocent smile.

_SLAP!_

Everyone's eyes widened at the sight they has just seen. Even Sakura couldn't believe what she had just done.

Hinata raised her hand up to touch the now sensitive and red cheek. She winced at the contact and growled. Naruto actually took a step back, a bit afraid of what Hinata will do now.

"You're going to pay for that." Hinata threatened with a low growl. She charged for Sakura who had her eyes closed and waited for the pain. When she didn't feel any sort of pain, she opened her eyes to see Sasuke beside her with his right hand holding on to Hinata's right wrist that was about to strike Sakura's shoulder. His grip on her wrist tightened and Hinata let out a small yelp of pain.

_**'Do something brat, before that blasted Uchiha seriously hurts your mate!'**_Kyuubi yelled in Naruto's mind. Naruto was a bit hesitant to act but his determination to keep his friends safe overshadowed his timidity and doubt.

Sasuke's grip on Hinata's wrist tightened even more and now Hinata was on her knees, scowling in pain.

"Don't you dare touch my teammate." Sasuke said, sadism and hatred in his voice. Hinata looked up at Sasuke with her Byakugan blaring.

"A-At least I can activate... argh! My dōjutsu!" She mocked, smirking even though her hand was in a lot of pain. Sasuke grimaced at the mock and and twisted Hinata's wrist back in a painful and unnatural way. He then cocked his left leg back at the same time Hinata let out another cry of pain. He smirked as he swung his leg, aiming for Hinata's head, knowing that the hit will connect. What he didn't count on was Naruto's speed and dōjutsu.

A mere inch away from Hinata's cheek, the kick was stopped by Naruto's right hand. Naruto was standing in front of Hinata with his head down, his bangs hung over his eyes.

"Please don't hurt my friends. I don't want to fight but I will if I am forced to." Naruto raised his head up and stared at Sasuke dead in his eyes.

Once again Sasuke was taken aback by the green glow Naruto's eyes shined instead of their normal blue. The swirl that surrounds his pupil was also another surprise he wasn't expecting. Sasuke though didn't let the surprise get to him and he let go of Hinata's wrist with a hard shove. Hinata held her hand close to her and looked up at Naruto.

Naruto felt the rage that he had felt when Hiroshi spoke such obscenities about Hinata. He could feel his fingernails grow a bit and his canines sharpen.

_**'That's it brat, feed off this hatred, embrace it with open arms!'**_ Kyuubi yelled in glee and insanity from the inside of his mind but Naruto ignored it for the most part.

"You won't be able to land one hit on me, let alone hurt me." Sasuke boasted with Sakura behind him smirking and Kiba with his own smile on his face. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he silently calculated the odds of winning against them.

Hinata was out for a while since her wrist was probably sprained. He had Shino with him and he could probably take on Kiba without a problem. If anything, he just might be able to knock him out before any permanent damage was done.

Sakura would be a hindrance at best but it would be enough to give Sasuke an edge in the fight. Should the situation rise to that level, Naruto had to make sure Sakura wouldn't interfere in his fight.

Kiba and Shino could feel the tension in the air rise as Sasuke and Naruto continued to stare each other down. Kiba was just interested in watching a fight unfold between the two but Shino readied himself to stop Kiba should he want to join in on the fight. Sakura also readied herself to jump into the fight if Sasuke needed it.

No sound was made and the only sound heard was that of a passing wind. Neither dōjutsu user moved or batted their eyes away.

"...Then he fell and the whole thing was a disaster. Luckily, the man didn't-" Kurenai stopped her story when she saw Naruto and Sasuke staring at each other, almost ready to kill each other. Kakashi stopped behind her and blinked rapidly. He was wondering why exactly she stopped just at the exit of the academy.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked. Kurenai pointed at Naruto and Sasuke, not wanting to alert the genin of their presence. Kakashi looked to where she was pointing and his visible eye widened before relaxing to its original spot. "We should stop this."

"I know." Kakashi made to move but Kurenai stopped him with her hand. Before he could ask, she put her index finger on her lips. Kakashi gave her an odd stare for a while but she ignored it.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke still haven't moved. Hinata tried to stand to stop the fight but her wrist inadvertently bent forward at an angle that caused more pain to shoot up her arm.

"Ah." Hinata let out a small scream of pain. She winced at the feeling of a thousand pins and needles poking her wrist and fell once again to the ground on her knees. Naruto blinked when he heard Hinata's yelp and turned around to see her cradling her wrist. He crouched down in front of her and softly grabbed her right hand. Ripping off the left sleeve of his shirt, Naruto wrapped it around the injured wrist as tightly and gently as he could. After which he lightly tightened the knot holding the cloth together.

Without prior warning, Naruto placed his hands on Hinata's back and under her knees and lifted her up. Kurenai was surprised by Naruto's sudden forwardness while Kakashi was inwardly hoping for something out of the Icha Icha series. Shino and team 7 watched Naruto carefully as Naruto ignored everyone stares, even ignoring his own discomfort.

"Shino." Naruto called looking at him, his voice lacking its usual meekness and insecurity.

"What is it?" He answered.

"Please stay here and let Kurenai-sensei know that I took Hinata to the hospital." Naruto told him in a no-nonsense tone. Shino nodded his head and Naruto nodded back. Before he was able to leave however, Sasuke forcibly grabbed Naruto's left shoulder.

"You're not going anywhere dobe." Sasuke growled but Nartuo shrugged off his hand.

"Not now Sasuke." Naruto's glowing green eyes were the last thing Sasuke saw before Naruto disappeared with Hinata in his arms. Sasuke blinked multiple times before it finally sunk in. Naruto had run away.

"That coward." Sasuke muttered while his fist clenched tightly at his side. Kiba and Shino took a couple steps back from the angered avenger while Sakura wasn't sure what to do.

"Sasuke." Sasuke growled at the mention of his name and looked to the direction of the voice. "I thought I told you to play nice." Kakashi scolded. Sasuke just scoffed and walked away with Sakura following after.

"If we're done here sensei, I think I'll take Akamaru home and rest up for tomorrow." Kiba said as Akamaru climbed on his head. Kakashi looked up to see where the sun was and sighed.

"Yeah, it's probably around seven now so you can go. Remember we meet up at seven in the morning tomorrow." Kakashi told Kiba.

"More like nine thirty." Kiba mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Kakashi asked.

"N-Nothing sensei, I gotta go now." Kiba said in a hurry. His tracks picked up dust as he rushed home, hoping to lose his sensei before he would ask him anything else. Kakashi sighed once more before looking at Shino.

"Tell Kurenai that I'll catch up with her later." Kakashi said as a gust of wind picked up around him and he disappeared. Shino looked at the spot where Kakashi once stood before he pushed his sunglasses back with his index finger.

"I am guessing you heard all of that." Shino stated more than questioned. Kurenai walked up to him and nodded her head.

"Yeah. Shall we go find our other comrades?" Kurenai suggested.

"Not at the moment. They need their time together." Shino stated as he started to walk in the direction of his house. "Good-bye and have a nice evening Kurenai-sensei."

"You too Shino." Kurenai said as she walked in a random direction, not sure exactly what to do anymore since her team couldn't train at the moment.

[*.*.*.*]

Hinata could feel all her blood rush to her cheeks; she could even swear that she could feel the pink tint fill her cheeks. The feeling on Naruto's firm arms wrapped under her knees and back was a little over bearing. The only reason she hadn't fainted or said anything yet was because she was too deep in thought to react to the outside world.

Naruto, on the other hand, was too concerned with Hinata's well being to be concerned with their current position. He knew he was over reacting just a tiny bit considering that Hinata might've only sprained her wrist but he couldn't help it, his kind nature and desire to keep his friend's safety had far outweighed his timidity and self-doubt. He could feel the strength from earlier start to deter by a small amount but that still didn't stop him. Naruto suddenly stopped and looked around, making sure he was heading in the right direction.

Hinata's thoughts, or a better yet, fantasy, was interrupted when Naruto stopped on top of the roof of a small building. She looked up and saw the green glow in his eyes start to dwindle and their blue hues return. It stopped just short of vanishing, indicating that he didn't need his dōjutsu as much. His blond hair flowed with the wind as it passed by and his steely eyes continued it search for something.

Why he was so determined to get her some medical attention, Hinata can only guess. Though she wasn't complaining about the attention Naruto was giving her. However, as much as she'd loved to continue being showered by his attention, Hinata knew she had to stop him.

"Naruto-kun..." Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at Hinata. His steely green-blue eyes quickly shifted to a comforting and caring stare as he looked into her lavender orbs.

"Yes Hinata?" Naruto asked, a little less meek than usual.

"I sprained my wrist... not my ankle." Naruto didn't get it at first but the sudden pink tint in Hinata's cheeks made it click in his mind. A shade of red that far surpassed Hinata's pink tint appeared on Naruto's cheeks and he gently set Hinata on her feet. After which he slowly took a step away from her, thinking he had offended her with his sudden forwardness.

"I-I'm sorry Hinata, I d-didn't mean to be so f-forward." Naruto stammered, placing both hands behind his back and looking in the opposite direction. Hinata was also looking away while she cradled her sprained wrist. She felt the fabric of Naruto's sleeve between her fingers and felt a darker shade color her cheeks.

"It's ok Naruto-kun, you did what you thought you should and I appreciate it." Hinata said, making Naruto feel an unease sensation in the pit of his stomach. He felt this every once in a while whenever he hung out with Hinata. He didn't necessarily classify the feeling as a bad thing, just confusing. Why he felt such an odd feeling when around the girl always left Naruto thinking about her more and more.

Having nothing else to say, Naruto walked in the direction of the hospital but was stopped by Hinata's left hand, which held on to his shoulder. He looked back and saw Hinata still not making eye contact but had a look of stubbornness.

"It's ok Naruto-kun, I'm fine, really." Hinata tried to reassure him but one misstep back caused her to adjust her wrist in the wrong angle and more pain shot through her arm.

"You're not ok Hinata; we should get you to the hospital and quick." Naruto said.

"Fine but take me to my house, we have our own infirmary and it's a lot closer." She said as she clenched her teeth in pain. Naruto nodded his head and wrapped Hinata in his arms. Hinata once again blushed at the contact and looked up at him. His eyes shimmered its usual green glow before Hinata felt her entire body freeze still. Before her eyes, she was in front of the Hyuuga compound in less than second. She looked around to make sure she wasn't hallucinating but it was real, much to her disbelief.

Naruto let her go as soon as he saw the compound and waited for Hinata to snap out of her stupor. It took a lot longer than he expected but after she regained her composure, she shook her head and looked at Naruto.

"Thanks Naruto-kun, but how'd you do that?" She asked, still a bit winded.

"My dōjutsu, remember?" He reminded as he made the swirl in his left eye spin. Hinata raised an eyebrow at this; she wondered why only his left eye swirled. Was it that the left eye dealt with the time stopping like ability while the right dealt with an unknown ability? Or was it that she was just over evaluating the whole thing and he was just trying to show off?

"Right, so, shall we head inside?" Hinata asked as she walked to the front of the gate. Naruto however, didn't follow, making Hinata turn and look at him. "What's wrong, don't you want to come in?"

Naruto fidgeted in his place, his hands fiddling with each other behind his back and his expression showing sudden nervousness. He once again felt an uneasy feeling in his stomach and it wasn't the usual one he felt. He was unsure if coming into Hinata's home would be such a good idea. He had no idea if he was on good terms with her father. With a bad first impression, Naruto was sure he'd lose one of the two friends of his own age group.

"I… well you see, I-I gotta go…" Naruto said. Hinata just looked at him oddly.

"You gotta go?" She asked, making him nodded hesitantly.

"Y-Yeah, I have t-this… thing to d-do and it'll t-take me a-a while to…"

"Naruto-kun." Naruto stopped his stuttered excuse and looked up to see a semi-teary eyed Hinata staring back at him. Her shoulders were slumped and her hands were slightly shaking while she held them together. Naruto felt his heart break into pieces, seeing a crying Hinata was something he hoped to never see again.

"You don't have to make up excuses. I was going to invite you inside so I can at least repay you for saving me from Sasuke but I see you don't want to. If you don't want to spend time with me, that's all you had to say." The words coming out of Hinata's mouth were slowly and silently killing Naruto. Though the thing that really killed Naruto was what Hinata said and did next. "I-I'll be fine." Silent tears fell down her eyes and she forced a smile to appear on her lips. She then turned and unhurriedly headed for the front gate.

Naruto was left broken and sadden. Was he really that bad of a person; was what everyone in the village stated about him true? It had to be if he just made his first close friends cry. How he did, he didn't care; all he cared about was making it up to Hinata.

"Hinata wait!" Naruto said in the loudest voice Hinata's ever heard him go to. She turned and wiped a tear away from her eye. She internally smirked but refrained from showing it.

"W-What is it Naruto-kun?" She asked in an innocent tone. Naruto walked up to the gate and opened it for Hinata. She repetitively blinked at him and his only response to her confused look was a small smile. "So you're coming inside with me?" She asked with a hopeful expression. Naruto nodded again and she wiped another tear away. She wrapped her petite arms around Naruto's torso without hurting herself and let her left cheek rest against his chest. She closed her eyes with content at the warmth she got from his body.

Naruto's face lit up like a Christmas tree, this was the closest he's ever been with Hinata. She's hugged him before, he was used to those, but this hug was different. It was a lot closer for one thing, and this hug just radiates a stronger feeling of warmth and an unknown feeling. Naruto shyly moved his arms to hug Hinata, inadvertently bringing her closer to him.

Hinata absentmindedly let out a sigh of relief. She then snapped her eyes open as a feeling passed through her entire being. She took a step back from Naruto's hug and looked at her feet with a blush.

'_I can't believe I let my guard down. Now that I was caught hugging him, father will definitely want to talk to me now.'_ Hinata thought as she activated her Byakugan to look into her house without turning her head. She then deactivated it and sighed. _'Nosy father...'_

"Sorry Naruto-kun, I guess I was just happy that you don't hate me." She said in a too sweet tone. Naruto, though, was oblivious to the fake kindness in her voice and shook his head.

"It's ok Hinata." Naruto replied with a blush of his own.

"So, let's go inside, it's getting a little cold outside don't you think?" Hinata asked as she started to walk towards the compound. Naruto nodded and took a step forward before he stopped at the feeling of eyes staring holes into the back of his skull. He looked behind him and saw the blond man with the black cloak from before. The cloaked man had his hood over his head so the top half of his face was not visible except for the green glow in his eyes. He smiled at him and nodded his head to come closer to him.

Naruto thought about it for a second before shaking his head. He rushed up to Hinata so he could catch up with her but suddenly she stopped. In fact, everything around Naruto stopped and he felt his dōjutsu reactivate again. A presence suddenly made itself known behind Naruto.

"I need to talk to you Naruto." The presence said in a monotonous tone. Naruto turned and looked at the man with an unreadable expression.

"You lied to me." Was all Naruto said to the dirty blond haired man as he moved closer to him.

"And what about, if I may ask." The man retorted with an uninterested voice. His tone didn't sit well with Naruto but he put it to the side.

"You told me my kekkei genkai could stop time, but I ran into someone a couple of days ago who told me that it could not control time but just gives me an extreme regulation of bio-electrical currents." Naruto accused but the older man just shook his head.

"I only told you what was passed down to me by my own father. While I did say that our eyes control time, I never said I believed it. It did seem rather arrogant to say that we had the power to control time." The man ranted. "In any case, that's not why I'm here."

"So why are you here?" Naruto asked, wary of the man. It was hard to trust someone he hardly knew and it didn't help that he knew the man could probably kill him before he could blink. The older man in front of him looked behind Naruto and right at Hinata. Naruto turned to look at what he was looking at and then back at him with a bit of anger in his eyes.

"Why are you looking at her?" Naruto asked in an angered tone. First Sasuke tried and managed to hurt Hinata, and if this man tried anything funny with her… Naruto didn't care if the man was stronger than him, he would fight to protect his friends.

"I can see why you are attracted to her Naruto. She will grow up to be a fine young lady." Naruto clenched his fist tightly on his side but showed no other signs of anger. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down Naruto, I didn't mean it that way. I was merely stating that you've made a nice choice in terms of a life partner." This took Naruto aback, so much so that he took a few steps back and almost tripped on his own feet.

"W-What do you mean life partner?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing, forget what I said, you will find out sooner or later. What I came here to tell you is that to be wary of the Uchiha brat." The man told Naruto. "The evil I sense in him is something I haven't sensed since Orochimaru." Naruto tilted his head to the side.

"The sannin Orochimaru? Is Sasuke really that evil?" Naruto asked.

"Only time will tell, a lot can happen in such a short amount of time but I doubt the brat will change anytime soon. Just remember to avoid him if possible, it won't due to antagonize the entire village if you end up hurting the boy." Naruto nodded his head. "Also, have you read the scroll I gave you?" Naruto nodded his head again.

"Yes, it didn't make any sense though. What was with all the seals and writing on it?" Naruto asked.

"I am unsure myself. Your father left it for you. Again, I'd like to tell you who he was but I probably shouldn't…"

"My father was a Namikaze wasn't he?" Naruto asked, stopping the older man and even shocking him.

"How'd you…"

"That man I fought, Hiroshi, told me of my clan. The Namikaze clan. Is that what you are… a Namikaze?" Naruto asked in a slightly hopeful tone. The man didn't make eye contact with him as he struggled to keep his composure. He cursed Hiroshi under his breath, mumbling something about taking care of him later.

"Yes, I am." The man's jaded right eye dimmed and shifted to a dark blue one, not unlike Naruto's. Now normally, this wouldn't prove much, seeing as it was only an eye color. This, however, was different since this was no common eye color in Konoha or in any nearby place. The only clan with the closest eye color was the Yamanaka clan and even then it wasn't the same.

"Are you my… father?" He asked, a bit afraid to hear the answer.

"No, I am not, but I am a relative of yours." The man answered. "My name is Takun, Namikaze Takun. I am your uncle." He continued. In an act unlike Naruto's usual demeanor, Naruto glared at his uncle and restrained himself from attacking Takun.

"Why… why didn't you come looking for me before when I needed it most?" He asked through his suppressed rage and sadness. Takun resisted the urge to look at Naruto in the eyes.

"You were better off here, where it was safer. I live a life that not even an ANBU could withstand. I know what you've gone through is just as bad, if not worse than an average ANBU, but it still can't compare to mine." Takun told him with a solemn expression. "If I had a different life, then things would've have been different. I might have even been able to help this village out tremendously just by being here. Sadly, the road I chose for my life was not the wisest, so now I pay for it."

Takun looked back up at Naruto, his one cerulean eye returning to its jaded shade. His eyes held no emotion in them, none what so ever. It seemed as though he was trying to suppress them so he could continue with his meeting with Naruto.

"I see." Naruto was speechless. His life was horrible; constant beatings, berating, isolation, emptiness, all words that could describe his life so far. His life was a horrible one that he thought no one shared, and so far, he still hasn't met anyone with a life that was on par with his. Apparently though, his uncle had a worse life, worse than his!

"Anyways, I also came to warn you of your next mission." Takun added his tone emotionless as possible. Naruto cocked an eyebrow but let no word pass his lips. Takun took a step closer and laid a gentle hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto looked at his hand and saw a fingerless glove on it and the metal place behind it had a scratch coming across the symbol of Konoha.

"That girl up there," Takun said as he pointed his free hand at Hinata's turned form. "Will be in harm's way in the upcoming mission. While she will never be safe considering that she chose the life of a kuniochi, this opposing force will be too much for her and your team to handle and if you are not careful Naruto…" Takun's eyes hardened as the intensity of his Jikokugan increased. "You will lose her."

Naruto's eyes widened in concern but he kept his cool and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"H-How do you know?" Shaken from the abruptness of the warning, Naruto forced the question out of his mouth.

"If you had read the entire scroll, you would know how I know of this." Takun stood and took a step back from Naruto. He then took his hood off and passed his fingers through his blond locks. "I must go; it is dangerous for both of you to be near me for so long." A spark appeared at the bottom of Takun's cloak and a small fire started to rush upwards, consuming him entirely. The parts under him disappeared as the fire continued its way upward.

"Goodbye for now Naruto, and remember, watch after the girl with your life or you'll regret it later." All that was left of the man was his upper torso but that was quickly disappearing as well. Just then, Naruto remember something just by the smile his uncle gave him at the last minute.

"Wait, was the Fourth Hokage my father?" Takun closed his eyes, making him look more like the Fourth with the smile.

"Another time Naruto!" Was all he said before the fire completely consumed him. Naruto cursed his timing and stared blankly into space.

'_It can't be mere coincidence. I look like him and the Fourth, he's my uncle… so that could mean…' _Naruto wasn't given any more time to ponder on his muse as a hand was gently placed on his shoulder. He flinched and quickly looked back. Hinata looked at him with concern written all over her face.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" She asked. Naruto shook his head and gave her a half-hearted smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I-If it's ok with you Hinata, I kind of want to go home." Naruto paused for a second before a thought appeared in his mind. "I-I mean unless you don't w-want me to." He added. Hinata looked at Naruto with a calculating stare. It wasn't that she didn't want him to go, well actually it was, but the point of it was that he seemed nervous. Well… at least, more so than usual.

"Are you sure you're okay Naruto-kun?" She asked once more. Naruto just nodded his head.

"Y-Yeah, I just used the Jikokugan too much today and now my eyes are tired." He said, trying his best to look tired. Hinata knew he was lying, she wasn't sure if anyone else could tell but she knew every time he was lying. This time however, he was serious about something and need some time alone, something Hinata had to respect.

"Okay Naruto-kun, I'll see you tomorrow then." Hinata said with an honest smile. Naruto smiled a little wider and nodded again.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow, goodnight." Naruto turned and started to walk out of the Hyuuga Compound. Hinata watched him leave with reluctance. She sighed a tired breath and walked inside her home, getting the feeling that she was going to have a long talk about boys with her father.

She walked into her home and saw her father with his arms crossed with his usual stoic expression. If she didn't know the whole stoic-expression was a façade, she would think he always looked like that, even in his sleep. With a reluctant, soundless moan, she nodded her head. She put on her own stoic expression and placed her good hand on her hip and turned around.

"'Hinata, I need to have a word with you in my office.'" She said, mocking her father. She then turned again and replaced the stoic expression with a tired one.

"But father I'm really tired and I think I sprained my wrist." She retorted to herself. "Besides, it wasn't like I kissed him or anything." Hinata turned around again with her stoic expression.

"'While that may be true, we still need to talk. After words you may go to the infirmary to take a look at your wrist.'" Hinata groaned and walked past the Hyuuga Head, heading straight to his office.

"Fathers are so difficult to deal with sometimes." She said to herself with an exasperated groan. Hiashi meanwhile had watched in amusement at his daughter's odd display of their would-be conversation. He chuckled to himself and with a shake of his head, followed after Hinata.

"I taught her well." He mused to himself as he closed the door to his office.

[*.*.One week later.*.*]

Team 8 waited patiently behind the doors that led to the room where the Hokage and Iruka were handing out missions to various genin and chuunin teams. Naruto and Hinata were at opposite sides of their team, Kurenai and Shino standing in between the two genin. Both had experienced an awkward no longer than an hour ago and were trying to calm down their heartbeats and fluttering feelings.

After some very loud and persuasive words, courtesy of Hinata, the whole team agreed to a solemn vow. What happened between Team 8, stayed between Team 8.

Hinata and Naruto constantly looked at each other while the other looked away just before the other looked. Kurenai could only watch with amusement and annoyance. While she found it adorable that both were oblivious of the other's feelings, she was also annoyed by it at the same time. While adorable, it could hinder with their mission's success rate and may even cost them their lives. Well, only if they got anything higher than a D-ranked mission, which Kurenai doubted would be anytime soon.

Shino on the other hand was just hoping for a miracle to stop the embarrassment both of his teammates experienced earlier that day. Under the protection of his high collar, Shino's mouth twitched upward ever so slightly, the memory of the incident still fresh in his mind and hilarious at that.

After five minutes of waiting, the door next to them opened and Team 10 walked out of the room with their sensei holding their mission scroll. Asuma looked up and saw Kurenai and her team waiting right outside the door. He couldn't help the smile that cracked his chain smoking mouth while his teeth held on to the lit cigarette.

"Hey." Kurenai looked up and forced a smile on her lips. While she held no ill will towards the veteran jounin, she couldn't honestly say she liked the man. The chain smoker always had a way to smoke at the most importune times and had no respect for their leader which coincidently was his father. Granted they did have a rocky past, that still didn't mean that he didn't need to act professional with him.

"Good morning Asuma." She looked at his team and saw Ino fixing her hair with a small black comb, Choji chomping away some chips she was positive he made magically appear and Shikamaru with his usual aloof expression. "I see your team is well prepared to take on their missions today." She commented. Asuma nodded his head even though he could feel the sarcasm dripping in her voice.

"Yes, so if you'll excuse us, we'll be going now and by the way, the old man's waiting for you." When he turned his back on her, Kurenai scowled at him, again disturbed by his lack of respect for their Hokage. She stood up and walked into the room, her genin team following right after her.

They enter the room to see that it's very spacious with the Hokage and Iruka sitting at the end of the room and a few chuunin standing near the Hokage, apparently standing guard. The Hokage was busy reading a scroll to notice Team 8 enter the room but Iruka heard them enter.

"Ah, Kurenai, Naruto, Hinata and Shino. How are you four?" Iruka asked.

"Very well Iruka-sensei." Shino answered while both Hinata and Naruto just nodded. The Hokage put the scroll in his hands down and intertwined his fingers together, looking up at Team 8 with a smile. Kurenai bowed, as did Team 8, and when she came back up, she cleared her throat.

"Good morning Hokage-sama."

"Good morning Kurenai, Team 8. I assume you are here to get your mission." The Hokage stated more than asked. Kurenai nodded and the Hokage sighed. "I see, well as much as I'd hate to say it, we have run out of D-rank missions for you." The room was silent; no words were said as the Hokage's words registered on Team 8's head.

"E-Excuse me?" Hinata stuttered. The Hokage shifted in his seat and cleared his throat.

"Everyone of our D-rank mission are all being handled by this year's and last year's genin teams. All we have left is a low C-rank mission but…" The Hokage started but trailed off when he saw Hinata's expression. A mental alarm clicked in his head and he counted down from 3…

2…

1…

"We'll take it!" She yelled, making her team flinch at the volume of her tone.

"Hinata!" Kurenai scolded but Hinata ignore it, she was trying to get that C-rank mission. Iruka was about to scolded her and lecture her about how the whole mission and ranks operate but the Hokage stood with a challenging smirk.

"So you think you can handle a C-rank mission already?" He asked as he walked around the desk and up to Team 8. He looked at each member of Team 8 and gauged their reaction to his question.

Naruto didn't look at him in the eyes, he was still a little wary of the old man so he couldn't completely gauge him. Hinata's eye glistened with mischievous while an innocent smile graced her lips. Shino's eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses but by his body language, the Hokage knew he also wanted to accept the C-rank mission. Kurenai held her cool but the Hokage wasn't called the Professor for nothing, he knew Kurenai didn't like the idea.

"Yes, of course! Our team has done at least four or five D rank missions everyday while the others settle for less!" Hinata boasted.

"I agree with my comrade; this will be very beneficial for us to get a hands-on-approach to the actual shinobi world." Shino stated, earning an eager nodded from Hinata. Kurenai was praying for a miracle to happen though she saw that window quickly closing.

"You seem less than happy about the news Kurenai." The third Hokage commented, catching her off guard, making her straighten her posture and tense up.

"O-Of course not Hokage-sama! My team is more than capable of handling a simple C-rank mission." Kurenai informed him, making her regret it a second later. Why she suddenly said that without thinking about it first was unknown to her. She sighed in defeat, knowing that they were going to get the mission now. It wasn't that she wasn't confident in her team's abilities; she just thought it was a bit too early for their first C-rank mission.

"And what do you have to say about this Naruto?" The third asked, snapping said ninja out of his thoughts. Kurenai closed her eyes and smiled in content, thanking whoever was listening for sending her a miracle.

"Oh… uh… w-well…" Naruto tried diligently to keep eye contact with the Hokage but not matter what he tried, it could not last longer than two seconds. Naruto looked to his right where both his teammates were and both gave him a look as if to say 'say yes!' With newfound pressure, Naruto felt his mind rushing and his heart beating at what he was sure was at inhuman speeds.

'…_and if you are not careful Naruto… You will lose her.'_ His uncle's warning replayed in Naruto's head, starting to sway his decision. As it stands, his decision could decided whether they go train until more D-rank missions appear or go off into the outside world to complete the C-rank mission. As more time passed, Naruto was getting more and more determined not to go on the mission. To him, Hinata's life wasn't worth losing over a C-rank mission.

Just as Naruto was about to reject the idea of the mission, he gave one last haste look at Hinata. Her expression told him many things; one of which was that she wanted this more than anything else. With this in mind, Naruto spoke before he was even able to rethink his decision.

"I-I think we're ready." He stuttered, shocking Kurenai and himself in the process. Hinata's smile widened, as did the Hokage's and Shino just nodded. Iruka was speechless to say the least.

"Hokage-sama, you're not really going to let them do the C-rank mission, are you?" Iruka asked in more concern for his ex-students than anything else. The Hokage only smiled as he walked back to his seat behind the desk.

"I don't see why not? It's a fairly simple mission and should any problems arise, Kurenai here will be here to help them. If anyone doesn't have anything else to add to the conversation..." The third Hokage paused to clear his throat. "Bring him in."

The door to the left of Team 8 was suddenly opened and a drunken man appeared with a bottle of sake in his hand. His face had a tired look and his grey beard was dirty with some food he previously eaten. Hinata closed her eyes, clamped her nose shut with her right hand and held in her breath, hoping to never let the stench of the man reach her senses again.

"Tazuna-san, I see that you are late." The Third Hokage stated, also barely able to tolerant his smell. "I am quite busy right now introducing this team to their client so if you don't mind, you may leave. You're team is waiting right outside as we speak." Luckily for everyone in the room, the drunken old man left without saying word.

As soon as the man closed the door, everyone let out a sigh of relief and then sucked in a breath of fresh air. After a minute of breathing in fresh air, the Hokage coughed into his hand to redirect Team 8's attention.

"As I was saying, please bring the client in." The Hokage ordered, the door the drunken man from before opened reopened and a different man came into the room. He was wearing pale orange hat, dark teal jacket with a darker teal obi tied around his waist, dirt green pants and brown boots with a bag slung over his chest and shoulder.

"Good morning, my name is Yurinoshi." The man said as he bowed to the Hokage and Team 8. The Hokage and Team 8 bowed back. "So this is the group who's going to help move our stuff out of the Land of Vegetables."

"Yes they are. They will help you move your products out of the Land of Vegetables and to the Land of Nano." The third Hokage smirked behind his intertwined fingers.

"I see, thank you Hokage-sama. We must go as soon as possible, the other peddlers are already traveling to the Land of Nano and I promised that I'd bring help."

[*.*.*.*]

In a faraway place, three shinobi watched the Land of Vegetable from afar, one sitting on a branch while the other two stood by his side.

"It seems that preparations have been completed." One of the three shinobi said. He wore a purple sleeveless jacket with a light red outline. He also wore a dark blue-green sleeveless shirt with matching arm guards. He had an orange obi and had pale silver pants. On his face were purple triangles, one on his left cheek, one on his right and one on his forehead, each pointing at the center of his nose. His long brown hair swished with the passing wind.

"Is this the Land of Vegetable you were talking about?" The second shinobi asked. He ate a lot healthier than the other two and was not ashamed of it. He also wore what the first ninja wore except for the jacket and pants. Instead, they were light lavender and had a pale yellow obi. He had two triangles painted under both his eyes that were occasionally covered by his long, dark silver hair.

"Well it's a small country, but it'll probably have enough manpower to start it." The last of the three shinobi added as he pushed aside his purple hair. His clothing matched that of his comrades with the exception of tinted brown pants. He had sky blue tear drops painted on both cheeks and a sky blue triangle right under his chin.

"We'll get complete compensation from that leader. With our signal, this country will be turned upside down." The first shinobi said with his arms crossed over his chest. He then turned to his comrades and stared at them with his dark yellow eyes. "As of today, we are this country's feudal lords."

"Feudal lords huh?" The second shinobi rhetorically asked. The third shinobi chuckled at this.

"It has a nice ring to it." He proclaimed. He then turned his ruby red eyes towards those behind him. "Doesn't it?"

A loud cheer of "Yes sir!" was heard as the small army of rogue shinobi readied themselves for the coming event, each wearing an identical outfit of their three rogue leaders, Renga, Jiga and Ruiga; better known as the Three Criminal Brothers.

**

* * *

Hahaha!!! The Criminal Brothers!!! Member them? Yeah, those guys...**

**Heh heh... Anyways, This was by far my most favorite chapter to type... I just love Hinata here! So hilarious... So manipulative _[in a good and comical way...]_, a smarta*s and all in all hilarious... Especially with Hiashi... Haha she played out the conversation as she imagined it and Hiashi was proud... She also played Naruto, hahaha...**

**I love Hinata, she's the best kunoichi in Naruto! I once read someone type she was annoying and I thought '......................................really?'... Whatever, I don't even care cuz she's a kick a*s character!!!**

**Sorry for ranting, anyways, not much left to mention so...**

**Next Chapter: The truth, who the real target is...**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	8. The truth, who the real target is

**YO, damn it's been almost forever huh? A little exaggerated but still, feels like it to me… **

**Anyways, happy new years everyone! Oh and, for people who have read one of my other stories. we'll have a special [and i do mean special] guest later in the chapter... Not who you expect...**

**Enjoy the chapter…**

**_"If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be too cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down."_**

**_-Ray Bradbury-_**

**Chapter 8: The truth, who the real target is...**

**I don't own naruto, now way no how...**

* * *

Hinata was a very simple girl in her mind. She was never really into expensive things or the luxury her clan provided her. No, she would rather trade in her luxurious life for a normal one. One of a happy family with no clan matters to bother them, no main and side branch to divide her family and most of all, one where she would be able to run outside all day with her friends and not have to worry about how it made her clan look.

And as the simple girl she was, Hinata could only try in vain to contain her excitement at finally leaving her home village, if only for a while. She didn't hate her village, just that it could get boring sometimes. She walked happily and excitedly in front of the rest of her team as she walked through the enormous front gate that gave entrance or exit to passing villagers, shinobi and merchants alike.

Kurenai, while ignoring the feel of dread in her stomach, smiled at Hinata's antics. In her opinion, she was a very odd girl considering that she is the heiress to one of Konoha's most prideful and oldest clan. Beside her was another heir to a clan belonging to Konoha; Aburame Shino. He, while also excited to have a mission involving something other than petty chores, refused to outwardly show it as he merely kept his hands in the pockets of his jacket and looked in front of him.

Naruto however… Kurenai turned smartly and looked around.

"Where's Naruto?" Kurenai asked as Hinata stopped walking and sighed. Shino and Yurinoshi stopped as well and could only wonder where the blond genin was. After introducing themselves to Yurinoshi, Kurenai dismissed them to pack for a two week trip and meet back in the village gates in an hour.

"Excuse me, I know you are missing your other student but my friends desperately need help with their products." Yurinoshi said, earning a depressed sigh from Kurenai.

"He's right; we can't put the mission on hold because Naruto isn't here." Kurenai said with a regretful voice. "Let's go." She ordered as she walked away from the village with Yurinoshi walking beside her. Shino looked at Hinata as she kept her sights on the village and seemed to will something to happen.

"Hinata, Kurenai's right. While I too do not want to leave without him, we cannot stop whatever we are doing just because he isn't here. It is his own fault that he was not able to attend the mission on time and we cannot let the mission fail because of it." Shino stated plainly. While Hinata knew he was right, she still felt it was wrong to go on their first C-ranked mission without their third teammate. Hinata nodded and ran to catch up to Kurenai and Yurinoshi.

Shino however looked back at the village with lament. If only Naruto had shown up, then maybe their team might have developed a stronger bond. So far, all they had was blind faith in each other and basic info about each other. This mission might have really brought them together or closer as a team but now…

Shino shook his head in a disappointed gesture. Whatever it was Naruto was doing, it must be really important if it made him miss the mission. In a way, Shino was correct.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto was currently running towards the village gates as he just exited his home. He cursed his luck of timing as he looked at a nearby clock and nearly fainted at the amount of time he wasted packing and meditating. He took another crack at the scroll his uncle gave him and was surprised to see that he had not completely opened the scroll like he previously thought.

Apparently, there was more to the Jikokugan than just giving the user an aptitude of lightning. However, Naruto wasn't able to go in depth on the specifics when he was suddenly pulled into his own mindscape.

He shivered at the memory as he reached the gates with a ragged breath. Naruto doubled over as he placed his hands on his knees and took in a couple of deep breaths. He knew it was easier using his dōjutsu to make it to the gates but he didn't want to waste chakra in doing something so trivial.

Standing up again, Naruto could faintly see trace his team's scent. Naruto was not about to miss his chance to prove to everyone that he was not a failure but more of all, he wasn't about to let his first real friend perish in the hands of a stranger. While he really had no idea what his uncle meant, he did know that Hinata was in danger. He was the cause of their C-ranked mission and he would rather die than be the reason why his friends died.

Dropping down on all fours, Naruto ran in the direction of his team as he ran quicker than when he ran on two legs. It appeared odd to him that he was quicker on all fours but he figured it was Kyuubi's influence on him. Banishing any thoughts of the dastardly demon away from his head, Naruto started sniffing the air and continued down the trail he was currently travelling.

Though it suddenly occurred to him that his behavior was not his own. He never ran on all fours or sniffed the air like some sort of animal.

'_I-It's his influence.'_ Naruto thought as he stopped running and stood up straight. He refused. He refused to be anything like the monster that attacked his home and had cost the greatest shinobi his life and the reason behind the village's hate towards him. Pumping chakra into his feet, Naruto ran down the trail with newfound speed and with a more determined look on his face. At all cost, he will live his life honorably and just.

'_**So are you refusing my help, you brat?'**_ Kyuubi asked angrily yet entertained inside Naruto's head. Naruto ignored Kyuubi's voice; it did not benefit him to talk to the chakra beast at the moment. _**'Why are you acting so cold towards me you little snot? All I've ever done was try to aid you in your time of need.'**_ Kyuubi's tone, dripping with sarcasm, was starting to aggravate Naruto.

It took a lot to aggravate Naruto and besides Kyuubi at the moment, the only one to ever aggravate Naruto to a point where he wished nothing more than to hurt the person was Sasuke. Even then, it was only when he was either hurting Hinata physically, emotionally or spiritually. It was odd for it to go to such an extreme as spiritually but with the Sharingan running through his blood, he didn't doubt that Sasuke would sink so low.

'_**Listen you brat, while I have to respect your ability to hold off the temptation of using my powers, I won't be ignored by some lowly kid with a confidence problem and who can't even defend himself. Are you getting this?'**_ Kyuubi asked as his voice started getting louder and angrier. After Naruto didn't respond, Kyuubi snorted in disgust as his voice and influence started to disappear. _**'Very well then, you ignore me now but when you need it most, I will deny your request of borrowing some of my power. Let me warn you know brat, you will regret this.'**_Naruto hated how ominous and eerie Kyuubi's warning sounded.

Naruto jumped into the nearest tree and started jumping from branch to branch, trying to reach the peak of the tree. After he reached the top he started to look ahead of the trail, hoping to either see his team or a sign that they passed through. Naruto really wished he had Hinata's byakugan; it would be really useful at the moment.

From Naruto's sight, he saw the trail end about two miles ahead of him, leading up to a rocky trail into the mountains. He knew his team was somewhere along the trail and couldn't be far now. Jumping down from the top of the tree top, Naruto gracefully dropped to the ground and started to run towards the end of the trail, hoping to run into his team. He just hoped nothing happened yet.

Meanwhile, Hinata could only sweat drop at the current activity she was doing. She was a girl, A GIRL FOR KAMI SAKE! So why was she pushing the cart full of the peddlers merchandise? While she did appreciate that Shino was with her to push the cart as they began to tread up the mountain side, she was really hoping to take it easy on the mission or at least a little more action. She just wanted something simple like a band of bandits trying to steal the products and women or something similar to that effect.

But no! They were making her push the cart while a small girl rode on top, a guy pulled from the front with an elderly woman and a young woman walking leisurely besides him. Behind her was another cart being pulled by a stronger looking man with another man pushing from behind. Walking besides that man was a teenage boy who looked so stoic that if Hinata didn't know any better, looked a miniature version of her father; besides the obvious differences.

Hinata's eye brow twitched angrily. She knew she would snap soon if something exciting didn't happen. Just as she was about to let out a loud groan, Kurenai's voice snapped her into attention.

"Hinata." Kurenai said.

"Hmm?" She asked in a surprised tone.

"We're going to be taking a break now so if you'd like, you can go with Shino and that little girl Momiji to get some water for the rest of us." Kurenai told her. Hinata nodded as she, along with Shino and Momiji, walked into the forest with empty bottles to fill with water. It didn't take long for them to find a lake near by a cliff, overlooking the western side of the mountain, the direction where the Land of Nano was. As Hinata filled up the bottles, Momiji traveled to the cliff to watch the forest in a better view. Shino, ever so cautious, walked to the little girl as she looked oddly at the forest.

"Hmm?" Momiji looked at Shino before pointing at the direction of the Land of Nano.

"What's that?" Momiji asked in an innocent voice. Shino looked at the direction she pointed at and was surprised to see a small cloud of smoke coming from somewhere in the forest.

"Hinata." Shino called. Hinata looked up and then stood before walking over only to spot the burning cloud as well.

"I'll go check it out." Shino nodded and Hinata jumped down from the cliff and after elegantly landing on her feet, she sprang forward and towards the smoke.

"This is going to be a secret between the three of us. It will not be good to panic everyone if this proves to be nothing more than a small fire." Shino said, looking down at the girl. Momiji nodded and she jumped on his back as they headed back to the others with four filled bottles of water. Returning back with the others, Kurenai noticed that Hinata was not among them.

"Where's Hinata?" She asked.

"She… had to use the bathroom." Kurenai nodded in understanding and left it at that. However, Yurinoshi, Kikusuke and Shun, the younger cousin of the elder men, looked at each other.

"Let's keep going, I'm sure Hinata will be able to catch up." Yurinoshi stated earning nods from everyone as they got into formation and started pushing or pulling the carts. Momiji sat on top of one of the carts and held her stomach as it growled, yearning for food. The sounds of a bag of chips caught her attention from her side. Looking in that direction, she saw Shun holding the bag of chips.

Crawling to that side, Momiji reached out to grab the chips but was suddenly pulled away by Shun.

"Tell me what you saw first." Shun said, making Momiji hesitate.

With Hinata, she was trying to figure her way around the forest trying to find the border to Nano country. She ducked as a handful of shuriken tried to embed themselves into her.

"The hell?!" She yelled as she jumped off the branch she was on and onto the ground before rolling to the side to avoid more shuriken. Using moves that would make a competent dancer green with envy, Hinata dodged all shuriken thrown her way and landed under the safety of some bushes. "Who are you?" She asked.

"You pest. By the symbol engraved in your headband, I'd say you're from Konoha." A voice said from everywhere at the same time.

"So what if it is?" She yelled. Activating her bloodline, she looked for the opposing threat. "What do you want with me; I have no intention of fighting you."

"As inconvenient as it is, the person we're looking for are heading this way." The voice replied. "Anyone else who strays into our territory must be killed immediately." A kunai with a piece of paper attached to it appeared in front of Hinata. She wasted no time jumping into the air and onto the branch of a nearby tree before the explosive tag detonated. She wasn't given much time to breath as seven shuriken drilled themselves into her back and she fell face first onto the unforgiving ground.

"Did you get her?" One of two ninjas asked as they jumped down from their hiding places. Both wore a dark blue-green sleeveless shirt with matching arm guards and had an orange obi and pale silver pants. Both were surprised to see a log wearing a blue trench coat and when one kicked it angrily, it activated the explosive tag attached to it. They jumped back as the log exploded, blowing them back.

From the side of a tree a few feet away, Hinata smirked and ran towards the others. As much as she'd love to stay and fight, she knew the odds weren't in her favor. She ran as quickly and quietly as possible to where the others were. At times like this, she wished she had a dōjutsu similar to Naruto's. Freezing those two and tying them up to take to interrogation was very useful and quicker than closing their chakra points in her opinion. Seeing the group of peddlers and her team, well, most of them, Hinata skidded to a halt in front of them and panted heavily.

"We need to talk." Hinata said, looking at Yurinoshi who seemed to be guilty of something though hid it very well.

[*.*.*.*]

In the Land of Greens, the place was in disaster. Black clouds of smoke rose from the burned carcass of carts and buildings. Inside the Daimyo's castle, gold, silver and many other valuable and expensive items lay thrown on the ground.

"Is that all the Daimyo has?" Renga, the leader of the Criminal Brothers asked as he lay on top of the gold.

"They supposedly had a kind Daimyo, a selfless one." The shortest of the three, Ruiga, answered. "He couldn't have overindulged. This is all we'll be able to squeeze from him."

"As much as I admire the small amount of wealth, were you able to find the girl?" Renga asked. The fat one, Jiga, scowled.

"No, the two pursuing her returned badly injured and empty handed. Though we do know in which direction she's heading off to." Renga smiled as he shifted comfortably in his place.

"That girl is our only problem. If she is able to escape, she may get military support from another country and come back." Sighing, Renga looked through the balcony as the sun started to set. "If only the sun was a little higher. I could probably use my techniques to toast the lot of them." Ruiga spun his tonfa quickly around as he took two steps back and fell into his battle stance.

"Then I'll go." Renga smiled but soon drifted his attention to the stairs as he heard the footsteps of someone approaching. A chubby man in his mid fifties, blad head with black hair still on the side and a common kimono of those in the council, ran up to Renga and bowed in front of him.

"Renga-sama, I've gathered together all the collaborators in the plaza, just as you said." The old man said.

"Well done. If it weren't for your help, we would not have been able to take this castle to easily." The old man grinned devilishly.

"Hey big bro, how about I go greet the people in the plaza?" Jiba asked excitedly.

"Sure, I'll just stay here; there are a few things I need to take care of." Ruiga and Jiba nodded before exiting the room and leaving their brother alone with the chubby old man.

"So, Renga-sama, about our promise…" The old man said greedily as he rubbed his hands together.

"Promise? Oh, that's right. Very well, take as much of the gold as you see fit." Renga answered nonchalantly. The old man bowed and started rummaging through the many gold pieces, jewels of various sizes and shapes, everything in front of him. Renga, grabbing one of the two katana placed behind his back, stood over the old man.

"It's so easy to trick people who are naive and gullbile." Too busy with gathering his share of the profit, the old man didn't notice Renga stand over him with his hands fingering the hilt of the katana.

"Seriously, it's just as you say!" The old man supported. "The Daimyo even believed in us up to the end."

"Ne, ne! If you take that much gold, you might be too heavy to make it to the afterlife." This caught the old man's attention so when he looked up, he was surprised to see Renga standing over him with his katana half way out of its sheath. "You're quite right, only an idiot who trust someone as deceitful as you…" Removing the entire katana out and positioning it at the center of the old man's neck, Renga smiled seeing the man sweat.

"Especially since you already betrayed one master." The old man was shaking now for he feared for his life.

"T-This has to be a joke Renga-sama." The old man pleaded.

"No, I'm afraid it's no joke!" It was at that moment that the sounds of blood curtailing screams were heard coming from the plaza. It clicked in the old man's head as his head was turned into the direction of the plaza.

"So that's it… The reason you had me gather the collaborators together in the plaza was so you could…" Before the man could finish, Renga reared the katana to the side and sliced through the old man's head.

"You wanted you're reward, well here it is." Renga stated as the old man's head rolled off his head and his body hit the ground with a dull thud. As the man's arms flew to the side, the jewels and gold pieces he placed in his kimono flew to the ground, into the pool of his own blood.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto panted as he laid under a tree, his sweat dripping down his forehead. While he did have a mission to get to, all that running was really taxing, especially on his legs. Grunting as he stood, Naruto stretched his legs and prepared himself to run again. He could sense his team was nearby and he wasn't about to be left out of the mission.

Naruto smiled when he saw Shino helping push one cart but wondered where Kurenai and Hinata were. Looking to the direction they were heading, Naruto decided to take a shortcut to reach them quicker. Jumping to the top, Naruto gasp as he saw the terrain in front of him looked like one of a battlefield. He jumped from the top of the ridge to the ground and was surprised even more when it was moist.

"W-What… happened here?" He asked no one in particular. "And why is the ground so wet?" His instinct told him to be on alert so putting on a stoic expression, he ran, following the trail of fallen trees. Naruto stopped cold when he saw a lifeless body laying face down on the ground. The body was wet, his clothes were torn and soaked in blood.

"Wh-What kind of wounds… are those?" The wounds on the body in front of Naruto had hundreds, maybe thousands of punctures. In Naruto's mind, they were very similar to those who were attacked by senbon needles. Naruto was about to head off to find his team when the man started to cough up blood. Stifling a gasp, Naruto fell to his knees and carefully rolled the man to his back.

"W-Who… are y-you?" The man asked. He shivered uncontrollably and blood refused to stop flowing out of his mouth and wounds.

"I-I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto answered as he felt for the man's pulse. It was faint and growing weaker, causing Naruto's fear for the man's life increase.

"S-So you're the one who f-f-forgot to show up." The man stated and Naruto nodded.

"I'm sorry about that." The man shook his head as he coughed violently again.

"F-Forget about me… please, y-you have to save… Lady Haruna… Urgh… please make sure she makes it to the Land of Nano alive." The man pleaded. "P-Please." The man added as he struggled to grab Naruto's collar. Naruto, even though he wasn't sure who or what the man was talking about, nodded his head. The man smiled as all his strength left him and he let go of Naruto's collar and closed his eyes.

"T-Thank… you." The man said one last time before his chest relaxed to the point where it wasn't even moving. Naruto looked down at the man with sympathy and sadness. Standing up, Naruto wasted no time running towards Hinata.

[*.*.*.*]

Shino was quietly thinking over their situation while pushing the cart. Momiji was looking at him.

"Shino, is something wrong?" The brown haired girl asked. Shino was snapped out of his thoughts by Momiji's question and he looked up.

"Of course not, everything is great." He answered stoicly. Before Momiji could ask another question, the droplets of water froze in mid air and grabbed everyone's attention. Shino's instincts rang loudly in his head as he stopped pushing the cart and looked around him.

"Everyone gather around me! Don't leave my sight." He ordered, helping Momiji down from the top of the cart. When everyone gathered around him, the water droplets formed together and started to surround Shino's group in a dome of water. He scowled.

"Everyone, get under the cart, quickly, it's much safer there." He then looked around and noticed that they weren't beside him anymore.

"We're already down here." Shino looked down to see Momiji and the other elderly people covering under the cart. He sweat dropped as he scratched his chin with his index finger.

"That was quick." He said.

"Shino!" Shino looked up to see someone jumping through the small opening the dome had before it closed completely. The person landed on top of the cart and stayed down.

"Naruto?" Shino wondered loudly. Naruto looked at him seriously before nodding and reaching into his kunai pouch.

"Get down." Shino nodded as he bent down and Naruto took out four kunai knives with an explosive tag tied to each. He threw all four in different directions and they dug into the dome of water. It detonated a second later, causing the dome of water to disperse. The water flew out into the air, covering the air and soaking everything within reach.

Naruto's eyes scanned the entire area, still wary that the enemy could be nearby.

"Naruto." Naruto looked down and saw Shino with an unreadable expression, as usual.

"What happened Shino?" He asked as he jumped down and landed next to Shino.

"Not that I am not glad you are here but… what are you doing here?" He asked, Naruto's seriousness vanished in thin air and his timidity appeared once again.

"W-Well, I didn't want to miss our first C-rank mission so I decided to try to catch up to everyone." He answered. "So why were you attacked? And where's Kurenai-sensei and Hinata?" He asked.

"Earlier today, we ran into a little bit of trouble. Apparently, we thought there was someone some rogue nin wanted to kill and we were only in the way, so we took the longer path. Unfortunately, we were wrong and someone in our group is being targeted. So Shun set up a plan where we would divide into two groups; the slower moving group and the faster one.

"Kurenai-sensei and Hinata went with the faster group considering that there were more of them. As for why we were attacked…" Shino placed his hands into the folds of his jacket before shrugging. "I am not sure. But I do wonder why they just left."

"Isn't it obvious? You don't shop at a store that doesn't have what you want." An elderly woman said. Naruto and Shino looked at each before looking at the woman like she was crazy. When the woman saw their confused expression she sighed. "If the shop is sold out of the thing you want, then you would go to another shop, correct?"

"Wait, so what you're saying is that the person that's being targeted isn't with us but with the other group?" Shino asked and the elderly woman nodded. Naruto looked between the two before settling on Shino.

"So what does that mean?" Naruto asked.

"Kurenai-sensei and Hinata are in trouble. Everyone, we have to move fast so leave everything that's weighing you done or what you don't need!" Shino ordered as the elderly started gathering their things.

"Oh no, Hinata."

[*.*.*.*]

"Okay, we're going to set up camp now." The people pushing the cart immediately stopped and everyone turned their gaze on Kurenai who walked up to the front. "It'd be dangerous to continue the travel at night." Everyone nodded or just didn't respond. Kurenai and Hinata tensed when they heard the sounds of another cart coming. They all looked behind and saw Naruto pushing a smaller looking cart with Shino and the others.

As soon as they were close enough, Naruto and Shino dropped the cart and double over with their hands on their knees.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. Naruto looked up and smiled tiredly. While Kurenai too was surprised to see Naruto, she was still infuriated.

"Shino! What are you doing here? We have a plan to follow remember?" Kurenai said, demanding answers.

"I'm am sorry Kurenai-sensei but the situation has changed." Shino answered, helping those on the cart to get down.

"I-It seems that someone in your group is keeping valuable information from us." Naruto continued, also helping the ones on the cart down. "And what it is, Shino and I are sure that's why this group is being targeted."

"But who's keeping that information from us and why?" Hinata asked.

"From what I was able to conclude, everything points to Shun and Yurinoshi." Shino stated.

"What are you implying?" Asked Shun in an offended tone.

"This isn't the time to lie, lives are at stake." Shino retorted.

"And one life was already taken." Naruto added solemnly. Everyone looked at him like he grew a second head.

"W-What?" Shun asked.

"I'm not sure who he was but I found him at badly injured back along the path. He seemed to be from this group since he knew who I was." Naruto continued.

"N-No…" Shun stammered.

"Not Kikusuke!" Yurinoshi said depressingly.

"If that's true then that also means that you know the reason why we're being targeted. There shouldn't have been a reason why you had him suited up in case of a fight if you were really peddlers." Naruto added.

"So, what's really going on?" Kurenai asked suspisciously.

"I'm under no obligation to tell you anything." Shun said stubbornly.

"Don't you see if you don't tell us why we're being pursued then you're putting everyone here in danger, including yourself?" Hinata yelled at Shun. "Is that what you want… to waste the lives of these people who have done no wrong?"

"It's ok, really it is." Team 8 looked at Kurenai incredulous. She ignored their stares and shifted her gaze to Shun. "Since this C mission is now considered a B, maybe even A-ranked, we don't have to do anything for these people. Come on." She started walked down the trail as the rest of Team 8 looked at each other with doubt. Before long, they started to follow her.

"Kikujō!" Yurinoshi said, loud enough to stop Kurenai and Team 8 as he fell to one knee.

"I am guessing that is Kikusuke's real name?" Shino asked.

"It was and my real name is not Yurinoshi, it's Yurinojō." Yurinojō continued.

"Hold your tongue!" Shun said in an orderly tone but Yurinojō shook his head.

"Shun is not actually his name either, he's not even a boy. The one standing beside me is the only daughter of the Land of Green's Daimyo, Lady Haruna." The people gathered around Haruna as the murmured amongst themselves, talking about how much she's grown. Team 8 was shocked at the sudden revelation.

"So you're Lady Haruna." Naruto said quietly, Hinata looked at him before her attention was diverted to Yurinojō.

"Lady Haruna, please, what these shinobi say is true, we must not let this people die just because we want to keep our secret to ourselves." Haruna however just scoffed.

"So what's some stuck up princess doing traveling with a bunch of merchants anyways?" Hinata asked bluntly. Kurenai was about to scold her but Yurinojō spoke before she was able to.

"We left for Lady Haruna's safety. We've learned of coup being planned in the Land of Greens. Our land was very peaceful and fertile one but was by no means a prosperous one. Before we could even blink, have of the officials were bribed and turned on our glorious Daimyo."

"But, who would do such a thing?" Naruto asked.

"They are known as the Janin or the Criminal Brothers. They came to us from across the sea."

"Janin?" Shino asked.

"Yes, I've heard of them. They are called that because of the dangerous ninjutsu they carry in their arsenal." Kurenai said, earning a nod from Yurinojō.

"They are very cruel, taking many lives, even the innocent. They have no regards for those they kill if it means that they benefit from it. They have no conscious and could careless for anyone other than themselves." Yurinojō added.

"But, why would they attack your land?" Naruto asked meekly.

"That's something we don't know yet. The only way the Daimyo could make sure his heir was safe was to disguise her as a peddler and hid amongst the real peddlers. Kikujō and I were hired to protect Lady Haruna but we weren't confident enough in our abilities so we commissioned you shinobi as back up, under the pretense as a protection job."

"This kind of information is something that we should've known since the beginning. So why didn't you tell us?" Kurenai didn't asked, she ordered them to answer.

"My safety is top priority, if I told anyone that I was traveling with peddlers then word would've got out and this whole thing would've been pointless." Haruna answered smugly. "Besides, if I would've mentioned it, you would've just run away."

"Hey listen princess; we're not the type of shinobi to give up so easily. And if we knew you were the heir to the Land of Greens, maybe Kikujō would still be alive." Hinata said angrily.

"And how do you know that? If one of you would've gone in Kikujō's place, who's to say you wouldn't have suffered the same fate?" She asked.

"We can hold our own, thank you." Shino stated.

"And what were you thinking? Are you that conceited that you think you're above women and children? That they are so insignificant that they could be used as your scapegoat while you run away?" Hinata asked.

"That's right, is there a problem?" Everyone was speechless; not one thing came to mind, no way to comment such a heartless answer. "So what if a few people died for me. If something should happen to the Land of Greens, I would be the only one whose blood runs with royalty. Even if it is obliterated, I could return one day and bring it back to its former glory."

"Is that all that matters to you?!" Hinata didn't wait for a reply as she appeared in front of Haruna and thrust an open palm forward. Before it was able to make contact, Yurinojō stepped in the middle. The open palm struck his lung and he doubled over. Hinata gasped as Yurinojō resisted the urge to throw up.

"P-Please, forgive Lady Haruna."

"Have you lost it? Don't you remember that you were hired to protect me from harm, not cause it?" Haruna asked.

"Actually, our mission states only to protect and help carry the cargo to the Land of Nano; it mentions nothing of protecting the heir to the Land of Greens. And Like I mentioned before, protecting a prominent figurehead like you is classified as an A-rank mission, at least. The mission I provide my team for was protecting the peddlers from roaming bandits. Protecting you puts my team in a completely different risk, one that I'm not willing to put my team through." Kurenai told Haruna.

"So, now you're going to abandon me at my time of need?" Haruna snarled.

"So now you trust us to protect you?" Hinata asked sarcastically.

"I will protect you with my life Lady Haruna." Yurinojō stated dutifully.

"Be quiet Yurinojō! Kikujō was more skilled then you but even he fell at the hands of our enemy. What makes you think you could succeed where Kikujō failed?" Haruna barked.

"Because that is what I was born to do. I will risk my life for you because it is my fate." Yurinojō replied, shocking Haruna.

"If you need someone to protect Lady Haruna then I suggest you return to the village with us and file your request for the protection of Lady Haruna under an A-rank mission, like it's supposed to be." Kurenai suggested.

"There's no time, we need to travel to Nano to request their help." Yurinojō stated.

"Then I'm sorry, there's not much we can do at this point." Kurenai once again walked away from the peddlers and Yurinojō and Haruna. Team 8 followed shortly, except for Naruto. "Naruto, what are you waiting for?" Kurenai asked.

"I'm sorry… but I can't go back." Naruto replied, puzzling his team.

"Why not Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"Because, right before Kikujō passed away, he wanted me to help make sure Lady Haruna makes it to the Land of Nano alive. And that's what I'm going to do." Naruto said with conviction.

"Naruto, I respect the determination you have to help Lady Haruna, but it is not our mission and we'll be risking our lives." Shino said, hoping to change the mind of his teammate.

"If that's true then so be it. I agreed to protect Lady Haruna and so, I will keep my word and see through it to the very end." Naruto retorted as he walked over to the front cart. He bent down and lifted up the handle and was about to go when a second pair of hands grabbed the handle as well. Looking up, Naruto was surprised to see Hinata smiling at him.

"If Naruto-kun is going to go through with this, then so will I." She said with the same conviction as Naruto.

"Thank you." Yurinojō said. Kurenai sighed and looked at Shino.

"So, do you want to continue as well?" She asked.

"…" Shino didn't answer as he watched Hinata, Naruto and the others pack up their stuff and make their way to the Land of Nano. "Yes, as a team, I say we continue." Kurenai looked up at the sky; it seemed as though Kami was messing with her.

"Fine, we'll protect you and won't leave yet, but I meant what I said earlier about traveling at night. Let's set up camp and we'll head out at sun rise." Yurinojō could only smile as he was assured that Haruna would have a better chance at surviving. Haruna stared at disbelief at Naruto before scoffing and walking away from everyone with Yurinojō following closely behind.

* * *

**So, that's all I got so far, how is it...**

**Hidden Rose: Could be better**

**Angelito Soldado: *sigh* i had a feeling you'd say that...**

**Hidden Rose: I'm just saying**

**Angelito Soldado: I can tell... What do you want now?**

**Hidden Rose: I have a question!**

**Angelito Soldado: When don't you?**

**Hidden Rose: During school.**

**Angelito Soldado: .........?**

**Hidden Rose: What?! I sleep a lot**

**Angelito Soldado: -_-" Whatever, what's your question?**

**Hidden Rose: In the other chapter, you said that the criminal brothers were outside the Land of Nano. If that's true, then why is that lady going over there?**

**Angelito Soldado: ......that was a pretty good question**

**Hidden Rose: *hits head with fist* Shuddup!**

**Angelito Soldado: OW! Sorry... anyways, to answer your question, that was a typo on my part... I meant to say that they were in the Land of Greens/Vegetable and I didn't see the mistake until it was basically too late... Sorry...**

**Hidden Rose: Oh and I like Hinata in this story! She's kick ass and acts like a real girl should! **

**Angelito Soldado: I guess but I still like her shy, nice side... Not saying she's not nice here or that I don't like her attitude in this story, just saying...**

**Hidden Rose: If you like her so much then why don't you just marry her...**

**Angelito Soldado: Cuz I don't want to look like the crazy chinese dude who married his ds game character... Seriously, that's kind of sad...**

**Hidden Rose: I'm sure if you were in his position you'd do the same...**

**Angelito Soldado: I'm sure if I did some troublesome girl I know would blow up...**

**Hidden Rose: What's that supposed to mean?!**

**Angelito Soldado: You know exactly what I mean... Anyways...**

**Next Chapter: First C-rank or A-rank mission? Was it worth it?**

**Hidden Rose: Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with Angelito Soldado or one of his stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**

**Angelito Soldado: Hey, that's my line!**


	9. Yo!

**Yo! What's up!**

**I got some good/bad news...**

**I'm going to be redoing this story since I want to change a few things.... I don't know if this is good or bad news to some of you but I feel like I should take out or edit some things in this story... What they are will be a surprise and might even make everyone a bit happier about it... Whether or not that's the case for others, i'm not sure...**

**Well, the changes will be made soon and I'll try to get back on track from where I left this story off... Till next time!**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	10. Remake is up!

**New version of this story is up!**

**So, for those who like this story enough to support the new one, please go to:**

**. net/s/5956038/1/**

**Just remember to delete the space between the "." and "net".....**

**********Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**  



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